Sanlu Group Co., the Chinese dairy at the centre of last year’s melamine-tainted milk scandal, will be auctioned off as early as next month, state media reported on Friday (13 February).

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The report came just a day after the company was declared bankrupt by a court in Shijiazhuang in China’s Hebei province.


Melamine-tainted infant formula produced by Sanlu has been blamed for the deaths of six babies and the illness of nearly 300,000 others in China.


According to the official news agency Xinhua, Sanlu borrowed US$132m to pay the medical fees of the children who consumed contaminated products.


Responding to the news, Beijing-based dairy company Beijing Sanyuan Foods Co. issued an announcement that it will be bid for Sanlu’s assets.

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In order to raise CNY800m (US$117m) to CNY1bn to fund its bid, Beijing Sanyuan said it will place 200-250m non-public CNY4 shares to parent company Sanyuan Group and a major shareholder, Beijing Enterprises (Food) Co Ltd.


Sanlu’s assets are valued at about CNY726m.

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