Suntory buys Jim Beam drinks group in $16 billion deal
By Canadian Packaging Staff
General Bottling acquisition and Courvoisier cognac. Suntory is best-known for the Japanese whisky brands Yamazaki and Midori liqueur and Bowmore Scotch whisky. Beam Inc. Beam's brands also include Maker's Mark bourbon Bowmore Scotch Courvoisier distilled beverages Hakushu Haushu Jim Beam Lucozade Maker's Mark Midori Ribena Sauza tequila Suntory Holdings Limited whiskey YamazakiDeal will make Suntory third-largest distiller in the world.
Japan’s Suntory Holdings Limited has agreed to purchase Beam, Inc., the Chicago-headquartered producers of whiskey and other distilled beverages in a $16 billion deal that would make it the world’s third-largest producer of distilled drinks.
A family-owned company based out of Osaka, Japan, Suntory was established in 1898. The deal, which still needs to be ratified has Suntory providing $13.6 billion in cash and the assumption of Beam Inc. debt.
Suntory and Beam do have a previous relationship, as each distributes the other’s brands in various markets.
Each company has well-known and well-established brands, and there is no plan to alter any of them. Beam brands include the Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark bourbon and Courvoisier cognac. Suntory is best-known for the Japanese whisky brands Yamazaki, Hakushu, and Midori liqueur and Bowmore Scotch whisky.
This Suntory purchase comes on the heels of a September 2013 purchase of the Ribena and Lucozade brands from GlaxoSmithKline of the UK in a US$2.2 billion deal.
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