Japan's Kirin, Suntory in Merger Talks

Kirin Holdings Co., a Japanese drink and health conglomerate and Suntory Holding Inc. an unlisted beverage giant, are negotiating a merger, according to Nikkei today. The merger entity would be the largest in both the Japanese beer and soft drink markets with combined group sales of $410 billion. It would be bigger than Belgian-based Anheuser-Busch InBev and Coca-Cola Co. of the United States and on a par with US food and beverage giants PepsiCo Inc and Kraft Food Inc..