Del Monte

Del Monte: According to a Bloomberg rpt, Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd.’s plan to spend more on takeovers than any Japanese soft-drinks rival over the past decade has made a target of Del Monte Pacific Ltd. Following Asia’s biggest initial public offering of 2013, the maker of Boss coffee and Orangina soda has said it will spend as much as $5 billion on deals to help double sales by 2020. Del Monte Pacific, the $893 million seller of fruit juices in the Philippines and India, would meet Suntory’s need for fast-growing, emerging market assets according to Maybank KE. A purchase of Del Monte Pacific would require Suntory to persuade the controlling shareholder, NutriAsia Pacific Ltd., to part with the company. A representative for NutriAsia said in an e-mail that any talk of a sale was speculation and declined to comment.