Diageo announces completion of MTO for the outstanding shares in Sichuan Shuijingfang

Further to the announcement made on 20th March, Diageo has completed the mandatory tender offer (“MTO”) for the outstanding shares of Sichuan Shuijingfang Co., Ltd. (“ShuiJingFang”) and there was a nominal take up of 3,154 shares (0.001% of the total 60.3% shares in issue not held by Quanxing).

The MTO was required by Chinese takeover regulations following the approval of Diageo taking control of Sichuan Chengdu Quanxing Group Company Ltd. (“Quanxing”) from Chengdu Yingsheng Investment Holding Co., Ltd (“Yingsheng”).

The MTO offer price was RMB21.45 per share and the offer period expired on 24th April.

Gilbert Ghostine, President of Diageo Asia Pacific commented: “This marks the end of a journey that started over two years ago when our partners agreed that we could move to take control of Quanxing and increase our participation in ShuiJingFang. It represents a milestone in the development of our ambition to play a significant role in Chinese white spirits, the most valuable beverage alcohol category in China. We could not have come this far without the support of the Chinese Government and the continued strong support of our Chinese partners”.