Tokyo, Monday 16 January, 2017 – CLSA Capital Partners, the alternative asset management arm of CLSA, is pleased to announce Sunrise Capital II’s (“Sunrise II”) Asamiya Co., Ltd. (“Asamiya”), a low-cost beverage manufacturer headquartered in Osaka, and Meiwa Co., Ltd. (“Meiwa”), a beverage wholesaler headquartered in Tokyo, have reached an agreement to merge and form a new company, which will primarily focus on the sales and promotion of beverages and other food-related products. Asamiya and Meiwa are expected to merge on March 1, 2017 and establish a new company named LIFEDRINK COMPANY Inc. (“LDC”) Sunrise II is a CLSA Capital Partners’ fund that invests in established, mid-cap companies with strong growth potential in Japan.
Asamiya manufactures various food-related products with a key focus on beverages such as pet-bottled mineral water and tea. The company has nation-wide production facilities operating through its group’s subsidiaries and is renowned for its low-cost operations achieved through in-house integration of the value chain from procurement, manufacturing, logistics and distribution. To date, Asamiya has supplied safe and secure products to consumers at affordable prices mainly in West Japan.
On the other hand, Meiwa has been successful in identifying customer needs and has built a strong reputation as a reliable company for promoting and stably distributing safe and secure products sought-after by customers, mainly in East Japan.
Sunrise II believes that through the merger of the two companies, the newly established food/beverage-related promotion and distribution company, LDC, will be able to benefit from the strengths and synergies between Asamiya and Meiwa and will be capable of tapping an even wider client base through its affordable and sought-after products. In addition, Sunrise II believes that the merger will further optimise operations and contribute to building a stronger management platform, which will assist the company in further expanding the business.
Sunrise II will continue to support further acceleration of growth in the newly established company, LDC.
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