Tokyo, July 8 - U.S. fund Steel Partners, which is seeking a one-third stake in Sapporo Holdings said on Tuesday it has recommended the Japanese brewer hire an investment banker to explore the sale of the company or parts of its business.
In the latest development in a stand-off that has lasted over a year, the fund said other strategic alternatives included hiring consultants to draw up a plan to improve Sapporo's operational results and margins.
The Steel Partners group currently owns 18.6 percent of the beer maker.
Steel Partners, which has taken substantial stakes in a variety of Japanese firms and pressured them to boost returns to shareholders, said it had submitted the recommendations to Sapporo in a letter on Tuesday.
Steel Partners first proposed to buy 66.6 percent of Sapporo shares for 825 yen apiece in February 2007 but revised that to seek 33.3 percent of voting rights at an increased price of 875 yen per share.
The latest offer price is 22.5 percent higher than Sapporo's closing share price of 714 yen on Tuesday before the announcement.