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Suntory was started by Shinjir? Torii , who first opened his store Torii Sh?ten in Osaka on February 1, 1899, to sell imported wines. In 1907, the store began selling a fortified wine called Akadama Port Wine . The store became the Kotobukiya company in 1921 to further expand its business and in 1923, Torii built Japan's first malt whisky distillery Yamazaki Distillery. Production began in December 1924 and five years later Suntory Whisky Shirofuda , the first single malt whisky made in Japan, was sold.
Due to shortages during World War II, Kotobukiya was forced to halt its development of new products, but in 1946 it re-released Torys Whisky, which sold well in post-war Japan. In 1961, Kotobukiya launched the "Drink Torys and Go to Hawaii" campaign. At the time, a trip abroad was considered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In 1963, Kotobukiya changed its name to "Suntory", taken from the name of the whisky it produces, which itself was derived from the English "Sun" + Tory, the anglicized version of Torii's name. In the same year, Musashino Beer Factory began its production of the Suntory Beer. In 1997, the company became Japan's sole bottler, distributor, and licensee of Pepsi products.
On April 1, 2009, Suntory became a stockholding company named Suntory Holdings Limited and established Suntory Beverage and Food Limited , Suntory Products Limited , Suntory Wellness Limited , Suntory Liquors Limited , Suntory Beer & Spirits Limited , Suntory Wine International Limited , and Suntory Business Expert Limited .On July 14, 2009, Kirin announced that it was negotiating with Suntory on a merger. On February 8, 2010, it was announced that negotiations between the two were terminated.In 2009, Suntory acquired Orangina, the orange soft drink for 300 billion yen, and Frucor energy drinks for 600 million euros. On July 2, 2013 the company debuted on the Tokyo stock exchange and raised almost US$4 billion in the process.In September 2013, Suntory purchased the drinks division of GlaxoSmithKline. This included the brands Lucozade and Ribena, however, the deal did not include Horlicks.In January 2014, Suntory announced an agreement to buy the largest U.S. bourbon producer, Beam Inc. for US$16 billion. This deal would make Suntory the world's third largest spirits maker. The acquisition was completed in April 2014, when it was announced that Beam would be renamed Beam Suntory.In 2018, Suntory sold most of Cerebos Pacific assets, including Australian and New Zealand food business to Kraft Heinz for A$290 million. This transaction excludes Cerebos Pacific's health supplements and fresh coffee business which later integrated into Suntory Beverage & Food Asia Pte. Ltd. and Suntory Coffee Australia respectively.
