Orion Breweries Makes Bullish Stock Market Debut

Tokyo, Sept. 25 (Jiji Press)–Shares of Orion Breweries Ltd. made a strong stock market debut in Tokyo trading on Thursday, with the company’s closing price more than double its initial public offering price. Orion Breweries fetched an initial price of 1,863 yen in the afternoon session on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime section after its shares were not traded in the morning because of a flood of buy orders. The company, based in Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, closed Thursday’s trading at 1,950 yen, compared with its IPO price of 850 yen. “We’ve received higher value than we had expected,” Orion Breweries President and CEO Hajime Murano said at a press conference in Tokyo. “We need to make further efforts to live up to people’s expectations.” Murano also said that the firm wants to contribute to the growth of other businesses in Okinawa. Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki said, “We expect (the listing of Orion Breweries shares) to contribute to the development of the prefectural economy.” Orion Breweries was founded in 1957. It was acquired by U.S. investment fund Carlyle Group and Japanese securities house Nomura Holdings Inc. for some 57 billion yen in 2019. Other shareholders include Asahi Breweries Ltd. and Kintetsu Group Holdings Co. Carlyle and Nomura will sell their stakes in Orion Breweries. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]