GRAINCORP has agreed to buy all shares in malt house operator Kirin Australia from Japan’s Kirin Brewery Company Ltd for $10.55 million.
GrainCorp managing director Alison Watkins saidL “The Kirin Australia malt house is in an ideal location for supplying malt into the expanding South East Asian beverage market, so having a production base in Western Australia is an important diversification step for GrainCorp Malt”.
“GrainCorp will also gain access to varieties of barley grown in WA that are not readily available to us in the east.
“This is an important competitive factor for us and should allow GrainCorp Malt to appeal to a wider range of customers, particularly in Asia.”
Kirin Australia was founded in 1976 as a joint venture with Barrett Burston Malting.
It operates a malt house producing 46,000 tonnes per annum at Welshpool, Perth, in Western Australia.
Shares in GrainCorp were two cents higher at $7.38 today.