Kirin In Good Cheer Even As Suntory Merger Talks Stall

Beer shipment data for 2009 has shown that Japanese beer giant Kirin has beaten fierce rival Asahi to the market number one spot for sales of beer and beer-like beverages, beating the long-standing market leader by 0.2 percentage points. However, taking the shine off the company's good spirits is the slower-than-expected progress of merger talks with competitor Suntory and further declines in the overall size of the Japanese beer

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