Suntory / Beam
Japanese whiskey and beer producer Suntory Holdings Ltd. is moving into bourbon. The family-owned company agreed on Jan. 13 to pay $13.6 billion in cash for Beam Inc., which makes Jim Beam bourbon as well as Marker’s Mark and Knob Creek bourbon, Canadian Club whiskey and Courvoisier cognac. Suntory will pay $83.50 a share in stock for Beam, a 25 percent premium to the target’s closing price on Jan. 10, the last trading day before the deal was announced. The buyer will also assume $2.4 billion in Beam debt.
