Chongqing Brewery Company (CBC) Workers Strike Over Sale of Stakes to Carlsberg

• Date: Jun 17 2010 Time: 11:11
• Description:
  From Global Times: More than 500 employees of China's Chongqing Brewery Company (CBC) held a strike Thursday to oppose the firm's decision to sell its stakes to the Danish brewer Carlsberg, the world's fourth-largest brewer. CBC announced on June 10 that Carlsberg would increase its stake in CBC to 29.71 percent from the current 17.46 percent for about 2.1 billion crowns ($378.7 million). The transaction is still conditional upon a number of steps and approvals by authorities and shareholders. If the deal is completed, Carlsberg will become the first largest shareholder of CBC. The employees are angry about not being informed of the company's decision. If a foreign company becomes the controller of the firm, their destinies then will be uncertain, said an employee who participated in the strike. Another employee said they fear that Carlsberg will cut personnel and hope that the company informs them of any negotiations as well as protection for employees' rights. CBC is the market leader in Chongqing and produced about 10 million hectoliters of beer in 2009. From GlobalMalt: China’s Chongqing Brewery Co Ltd this week said several big brewing company’s have applied to buy a stake in it. Danish brewer Carlsberg has applied to increase its stake in Chongqing Brewery Co Ltd to about 30% by buying a 12.25% state-owned holding. But also Belgium based Anheuser-Busch InBev and China Resources Snow Breweries, the joint venture between China Resources Enterprises Ltd and SABMiller, have applied to buy the stake, Chongqing Brewery said in a statement. Buying a stake in Chongqing Brewery would allow bidders to gain a share in the south-central Chinese beer market. Local-government-owned Chongqing Beer Group, which holds 32.25% of the Shanghai-listed brewer, plans to sell 59.29 million shares in the unit as part of a national government plan to shed listed assets, according to an exchange filing on Friday. The sale is worth 1.87 billion yuan ($274 million), based on current prices. Chongqing Brewery Co. Ltd is principally engaged in brewery and distribution of beer. The Company provides beer products such as Shancheng 1958 series products and Shancheng non-alcoholic beer. It distributes its products primarily in Southwestern China, Central China and Eastern China. The Company also involves in production of drinks and biological drug business. According to its 2009 earnings statement, Chongqing Brewery sold 10 million hectoliters (264 million gallons) of beer last year, or 2.4% of the total 424 million hectoliters sold in China