Kirin and Suntory in Merger Talks

The merger between Kirin, which is Japan’s second-largest brewer and its smaller rival Suntory would create a food and beverage group with combined sales of Y3,820bn ($41bn).

14/07/09 Kirin Holdings Company, Limited has confirmed that the Company and Suntory Holdings Limited are currently at an initial stage of business merger discussions. The company stressed that nothing has been resolved and no agreement has been reached at this stage.

The merger between Kirin, which is Japan’s second-largest brewer and its smaller rival Suntory would create a food and beverage group with combined sales of Y3,820bn ($41bn). To put this in perspective revenues would exceed those of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s €16bn ($22.3bn) and Coca-Cola’s $31.9bn.

Combining with Suntory would help Kirin accelerate growth overseas and cement its position as Asia’s biggest beermaker as top brewer AB InBev backs away from the region.

Tokyo-based Kirin has spent more than $7 billion in the past two years in Asia. It acquired National Foods, the owner of Australia's top juice brand and, through it, Dairy Farmers, one of the country's largest producers of milk and dairy products. Kirin also owns 48 per cent of San Miguel Beerof the Philippines and is acquiring shares in Australia's Lion Nathan that it does not already own.

Analysts said that a combination of Kirin and Suntory would create a company with nearly three times the revenues of Asahi, currently the country's market leader.