Tsingtao Brewery will shortly complete the purchase of Jinan Beer and its famous brands such as "Baotu Spring" at about 250 million yuan(US$36.8 mln), reported Oriental Morning Post today.

Insiders said that both parties have achieved a preliminary agreement which will be announced this week, but Tsingtao Brewery did not make any comment on the revelation.

Miao Xizhe, a professor from the School of Management of Ocean University of China, told Oriental Morning Post that the ultimate reason for Tsingtao Brewery's purchase is to compete with China Resources Snow Breweries Limited (CR Snow) which is extending its Shandong market and likely to engulf Jinan Beer.

Once the price war between the two starts, Tsingtao Brewery is likely to lose at least 250 million yuan, said Miao.

For more details, please read the full Chinese coverage at:

http://www.dfdaily.com/node2/node27/node120/userobject1ai172033.shtml

(China.org.cn by Fan Junmei June 4, 2009)