Suntory to purchase Beam

(The Suntory buyout of Beam will give Suntory an 11% market share in the United States, where they currently hold 1%.)

On Monday, Suntory joined the likes of Diageo and Pernod as the third largest distributor of distilled spirits, with the purchase of Jim Beam, a buyout which not only gives them rights to all Beam products, but also Maker's Mark. There's a lot that can be said for the buyout, in terms of how much the Japanese Suntory has gained, but in favor of keeping it simple, I will just say this; the buyout is huge.

(A Maker's Mark Manhattan, on the rocks; Maker's Mark is another American Bourban product that Suntory will score in it's buyout.)

This buyout will essentially give Suntory the ability to compete with its rivals Diageo and Pernod, who already have strong lines of products in North America. It also means that yet another American spirit product will soon be owned wholly by an overseas interest. Diageo already owns a large number of North American brands, but we also know international companies such as Anheuser-Busch have huge shares in the American beer market, owning both the American Budweiser and Canadian Labatt.

(Giant Suntory's Beam buyout will place Suntory as the third largest spirits distributor in the world.)

These large multinational giants are for the most part in control of the entire market of mass produced spirits. There are a few stragglers however, such as Jack Daniels - which have expressed no interest in a corporate takeover. But aside from that, a lot can be said for the craft revolution. With craft beer making a wave through North America, it should come as no surprise that some beer giants are starting to buy up successful craft breweries. But the same can be said for craft micro-distilleries.