JAPANESE BOURBON?

13 January 2014 Last updated at 08:47 ET 

Japanese family-owned drinks firm Suntory is to buy the US beverage group Beam Inc, the company behind the Jim Bean bourbon brand.

Under the deal, worth $16bn (£9.7bn) in all, Suntory will pay $13.6bn in cash and take on Beam's debt.
It will make Suntory the world's third largest maker of distilled drinks.
The two companies have a previous partnership whereby they distribute each other's brands in different markets.
Beam's brands also include Maker's Mark bourbon, Sauza tequila, and Courvoisier cognac.
Suntory is best-known for the Japanese whisky brands Yamazaki, Hakushu, and Midori liqueur and Bowmore Scotch whisky.