CRE to sell non-beer assets to parent for $3.6b

State-owned China Resources Holdings on Tuesday offered to buy the non-beer assets of its Hong Kong-listed subsidiary China Resources Enterprise for HK$28 billion $3.6 billion, a move which will transform the latter from a conglomerate to a pure-play brewer.

The assets to be sold include China Resources Enterprise’s retail businesses such as Vanguard, Pacific Coffee and Ole which span over 4,600 retail stores across China as well as its consumer and beverage business.

The deal is the latest example of a conglomerate streamlining its business. Elsewhere, Hutchison Whampoa is in the midst of merging with Cheung Kong Holdings and the merged entity will spin off...