Suntory in talks to acquire Orangina

       Suntory Holdings is in talks to buy European drinkmaker Orangina from Blackstone Group and Lion Capital Holdings as Japan's third-largest brewer expands outside a shrinking domestic market.
       The purchase, for more than US$2.6 billion (Bt88.5 billion), could be agreed as soon as this week, according to a source who declined to be identified. Christine Anderson, a Blacktone spokeswoman in New York, declined to comment. Suntory is in discussions to buy Orangina, spokeswoman Aya Takemoto said yesterday, declining to comment further.
       Buying the European drinks business previously owned by Cadbury schweppes would give Suntory the Oasis, Schweppes and other brands that have sales of about 1 billion euro (Bt49.5 billion) in the region. Suntory, which is also in talks to merge with Japan's biggest brewer Kirin Holding, is expanding abroad as the country's beer sales fall and the yen gains.
       Beer shipments by Kirin, Asahi Breweries and other Japanese brewers fell 6 per cent to 42.7 million cases in August, companies and industry groups said in statements yesterday. It was the lowest shipment level for August since records began in 1992.