Kirin, a juggernaut in the making
Kirin is successfully expanding overseas
Kirin is a large brewing group and a fixture on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It has recently raised eyelids in Australia with a major acquisition spree.
In 2007 Kirin bought National Foods, an Australian dairy and fruit juice company, followed by the acquisition of Dairy Farmers, a leading dairy manufacturer, in 2008 and Lion Nathan in 2009 who owns some of Australian’s most recognised beer brands. Together they form the largest dairy company in Australia and the biggest supplier to the Woolworths and Coles supermarket chains.
With beer sales stagnating in Japan, Kirin started diversifying its portfolio a couple of years ago. Their goal is to create synergies between their businesses by exploiting economies of scope, purchasing in bulk and by creating cross sale opportunities. By 2015 Kirin hopes to generate 30% of its sales from outside of Japan. With these recent acquisitions they are already halfway there.
Although the economic crisis has stagnated profit growth, Kirin posted healthy earning of ¥91 billion for the first half of 2009. Which is approximately $1 billion in USD.
During the last couple of weeks, Kirin has been in merger negotiations with Suntory to create a potential Japanese food and beverage Juggernaut. Combined they would have the momentum to compete in overseas markets with giants such as Kraft and Pepsico.
Independent of the outcome of the merger talks, Kirin is going to turn heads in the years to come.