JINAN: Tsingtao Brewery, producer of China's most famous beer, Tsingtao Beer, said Tuesday it has agreed to buy a beer brewery in Shandong, in what will be the company's third takeover in two years.

The company spent 1.87 billion yuan (281.3 million U.S. dollars) to take over the Hong Kong-funded Shandong Yinmai Beer Co. Ltd., the second largest beer brewery after Tsingtao Beer in east China's Shandong Province.

Wang Fan, vice chairman of Tsingtao Brewery, said the deal would consolidate Tsingtao Beer's dominance in the market in Shandong amid fierce competition.

He said after the takeover, Yinmai's plant in Linyi city, which had an annual production capacity of 550,000 kiloliter, would continue to produce under its original trademark of Yinmai.

This was different from Tsingtao Brewery's former takeover of two other local breweries of Yantai Beer and Baotu Spring Beer, whose trademark disappeared.

Tsingtao Brewery, founded in 1903 in Qingdao city, is listed in stock exchanges in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Its stock trading was suspended on both bourse Tuesday because of the takeover.

The company sold 5.91 million kiloliter of beer last year, generating revenue of 17.7 billion yuan (2.6 billion U.S. dollars).

Editor: Li Jing

Source: Xinhua