Seoul, Feb 19, 2009 - South Korea's No. 2 beer maker Oriental Brewery has drawn interest from Japan's Asahi Breweries Ltd (2502.T) and Kirin Holdings Co (2503.T) and local firm Lotte Group, in a deal worth about $700 million, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
The Maeil Business Newspaper cited unnamed industry sources as saying that about 10 preliminary bidders had shown interest through JPMorgan (JPM.N), which is managing the sale on behalf of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (INTB.BR), the world's largest brewer.
Anheuser owns a majority stake in unlisted OB.
The report said the other bidders were SABMiller (SAB.L), Asia Pacific Breweries (APBB.SI) and foreign private equity firms, including Blackstone (BX.N), Kohlberg Kravis Roberts [KKR.UL], Carlyle Group [CYL.UL], Affinity Equity Partners and MBK Partners.
A Lotte Group spokesman declined to confirm the report, while the private equity funds could not immediately be reached for comment.
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