Japanese Beverage Company Could Jump Into US Market

A Japanese beverage giant is reportedly close to entering the U.S. market for the first time.

Bloomberg, citing a report in Japan's Nikkei newspaper, wrote that Asahi Group Holdings is near a $416 million agreement to purchase Talking Rain.

Analysts said that Asahi, the country's second-largest beverage producer, likely hopes to counter sluggish domestic growth by expanding overseas. Beer sales in Japan, with a population that is both shrinking and getting older, are expected to slide in coming years.

“It would be a pretty big purchase for them and it could make sense if they are not paying too much for it," Edwin Merner, the president of Atlantis Investment Research Corp. in Tokyo, told Bloomberg.

The addition of Talking Rain, meanwhile, would give Asahi a foothold in the fast-growing U.S. sparking water sector. The company, based in Preston, Washington, also makes lemonade and teas.

No final decision about the acquisition has been made.

Asahi is also considered a potential bidder for the European beer labels set to be spun off as part of a massive AB InBev-SABMiller merger.