Japan’s Suntory in talks to buy French rival Orangina
10 Sep 2009
Major Japanese beverage maker Suntory Holdings Ltd. said today it is in talks with Blackstone Group LP and Lion Capital Holdings Inc's holding, the owners of French soft drink manufacturer Orangina SAS, to buy the company.
The deal is expected to be in the range of 1.85 billion euros, which Blackstone and Lion paid to Cadbury while acquiring Suntory.
The third largest beverage maker in Japan, Suntory said in July that it is in talks to merge with Japan's biggest maker Kirin Holdings Co into one of the world's largest beverage makers.
It was reported yesterday that Kirin Holding and Suntory plan to ask the Japanese Fair Trade Commission for a preliminary investigation into whether their proposed merger runs counter to the ant imonopoly laws.
Kirin and Suntory have been in talks to reach agreement as early as this year. But as their combined share of Japan's beer market would exceed 50 per cent, they are concerned about whether the FTC would approve the deal.
According to analysts, a deal for Orangina could spark consolidation in the global beverages industry.
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