Dive Summary:
- The second-largest drinks maker in Japan, Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd, is in talks to buy British drinks brands Lucozade and Ribena from drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline.
- Reuters' sources say the over £1 billion ($1.6 billion) deal would prevent the auction of the two brands, and that a deal may be announced in the next few days.
- GSK announced in April that it would sell the two drinks, but their popularity doesn't extend far beyond Britain and Suntory, which recently raised $4 billion in its June IPO, may be an ideal buyer to take the business off of the drugmaker's hands.
From the article:
... Suntory declined to say whether it was in talks with GSK, but acknowledged it was interested in the drugmaker's drinks business. Suntory bought the Orangina Schweppes drinks brand in 2009 for more than $3 billion.
"Looking to the future, we are considering a range of possibilities for growth including various strategic investments such as this (GSK) business, but nothing has been decided," the company said in a statement. ...