The chairman of beverage maker Hangzhou Wahaha said over the weekend he was considering buying a Japanese dairy firm, pushing shares of Megmilk Snow and Morinaga Milk sharply higher.

A Wahaha source confirmed Zong Qinghou had told a briefing that the company had recently been approached by a Japanese yoghurt company proposing a takeover. Zong added that talks had not started.

Shares of Megmilk Snow closed the morning session up 3 percent at 1,515 yen($ 18), after having climbed as much as 6.5 percent to 1,567 yen ($19), their highest since Dec. 21. Morinaga Milk shares were up 1.5 percent at 347 yen ($4), compared with a 1.3 percent fall in the benchmark Nikkei average.