Suntory's bid for Beam seen as daring, risky bet

The US$16 billion bid by Japanese beverage group Suntory Holdings for United States distiller Beam Inc, maker of classic American bourbon brands Jim Beam and Maker's Mark, is being seen as a "daring" move prompted by the need for Japanese consumer companies to break into overseas markets as their own domestic market shrinks.

The mutually agreed deal between the two companies would create the world's fourth largest liquor company by volume, and marks the second biggest such move by a Japanese company since Masayoshi Son's Softbank group launched a successful US$21.6 billion bid last year for US mobile telephone group Sprint Nextel.

That too was dubbed by some as a "gamble" and yesterday, Japan's Nikkei daily called the Suntory bid a "risky bet" by the Japanese whisky and beer producer to transform itself into a leading spirits firm in the global market.