The Jinro saga

Hite has taken its acquisition of Jinro to the next stage by signing a definitive contract on Friday to purchase the soju maker for W3.41 trillion ($3.31 billion). Hite, which has just completed a month of due diligence on Jinro, won a competitive auction. Its final acquisition price is W300 billion more than earlier rumours that it bid W3.1 trillion - beating out Japanese bidders as well as some local rivals in what was a highly competitive auction organized by Merrill Lynch.