Suntory Beverage, PepsiCo to form Thai soft drinks JV
(Updates sourcing to Suntory Beverage)
TOKYO, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd said on Thursday it has agreed to set up in Thailand a soft drink joint venture with PepsiCo Inc in March, as it looks to expand in the Southeast Asian country.
The Japanese company will buy 51 percent of shares in International Beverage, PepsiCo's Thai beverage business, for around 33 billion yen ($289.63 million), it said in a statement.
The deal will have no effect on Suntory Beverage's earnings for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, it added.
($1 = 113.9200 yen) (Reporting by Ritsuko Shimizu and Thomas Wilson; Writing by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
