April 8, 2009
Two companies buy back shares from Sanlu
Two dairy companies Tuesday (Apr 7) bought back shares previously owned by Sanlu Group, the bankrupt Chinese dairy firm responsible for last year's contaminated milk scandal.
The shares were put up for sale at an auction in the northern city of Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province, according to sources with the Hebei Jiahai Auction Co Ltd.
Beilande Dairy Co Ltd, a Hebei-based company, bought back 34 percent of its shares for RMB3.2 million while another dairy firm, Junlebao paid RMB25 million to acquire 16.7 percent of its shares.
Meanwhile, Hebei Tongfu Food Co. Ltd. bought 60 percent of the shares in Anhui Shuangjia Food Company, which had been owned by Sanlu, for RMB15 million. However, Sanlu's 25 percent stake in the Henan Huahuaniu Dairy Group failed to receive the reserve price.
Besides Sanlu's shares in four dairy plants, 169 of its protected trademarks and 12 patent rights were also being put up for auction. However, the auction of trademarks and patent rights was suspended for "technical reasons", according to the auction company.
Beijing-based Sanyuan Group successfully bid RMB616.5 million to purchase Sanlu's core assets on March 4.
Based in Shijiazhuang, Sanlu Group had been China's leading seller of milk powder for 15 years until the tainted milk scandal erupted in September last year.
US$1=RMB6.842 (Apr 8)
