Japan's Suntory to list key unit in $4.7bn IPO

Japanese drinks giant Suntory will offer shares in its food-and-beverage unit in July, the division said Wednesday, marking what could be the year's biggest listing on the booming Tokyo Stock Exchange. About 125 million new and existing shares would be sold in the privately-held company's Suntory Beverage & Food unit in an initial public offering valued at 475.76 billion yen ($4.7 billion) based on an expected sale price of 3,800 yen per share, it said. Shares of the unit, which produces non-alcoholic beverages including soft drinks and bottled tea, would be listed on Japan's premier bourse on July 3, it said. The division's sales last year totalled 992.1 billion yen, or more than half of the Suntory group's total revenue of 1.85 trillion yen. Suntory, which three years ago scrapped plans to merge with Japanese beverage giant Kirin to create one of the world's largest beer and soft-drink companies, has announced a number of overseas acquisitions as part of its bid to offset a shrinking domestic market.