By Miho Uranaka and Kane Wu
TOKYO/HONG KONG (Reuters) -Three groups including Bain Capital and KKR are preparing to bid for Sapporo Holdings’ real estate business, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The sale price is expected to be around 400 billion yen ($2.7 billion), said one of the sources and a third source familiar with the pricing expectations.
The deadline for submitting bids in the second round of bidding is scheduled for August, all three sources said. The final buyer will be granted exclusive negotiation rights with the sale likely to be finalised in November, according to one of the sources.
Sapporo has been under activist investor pressure to sell its real estate business and improve margins, with the brewer saying it plans to invest to grow its drinks business.
Real estate has become a popular target for investors in Japan as the country emerges from deflation and where interest rates are low.
The three groups preparing to bid are Lone Star and Kenedix, Bain and Tokyu Fudosan, and KKR, PAG and Nomura Real Estate, two of the sources said.
A Sapporo spokesperson said the company is in talks with multiple companies regarding the introduction of external capital into its real estate business and plans to determine a direction by year-end.
Kenedix, Bain, Tokyu Fudosan, KKR and PAG declined to comment. Nomura Real Estate said it did not have any information to provide. Lone Star did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The three sources declined to be named as the information is not public.
Mitsubishi Estate considered bidding but has withdrawn, one of the sources said. Sapporo previously said it had received proposals from more than ten companies.
Mitsubishi Estate declined to comment.
The centrepiece of Sapporo’s real estate business is the Yebisu Garden Place, a Tokyo complex containing office space, housing and retail.
The value of the sale may fluctuate depending on the scope for redevelopment and other factors, one of the sources said.
Singapore-based 3D Investment Partners has been pushing for the brewer to improve capital efficiency and separate its real estate business.
($1 = 148.0500 yen)
(Reporting by Miho Uranaka and Kane Wu; Writing by Sam Nussey; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
