May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., the Japanese maker of Pocari Sweat sports drinks, will buy 49 percent of French water bottler Alma SA for 120 billion yen ($1.15 billion) to counter slowing food and beverage sales.

Closely held Otsuka said it is buying the stake from investment company Rox Invest, which this year purchased the bottler of Vichy Célestins and Cristaline water brands from French winemaker Groupe Castel.

Otsuka joins brewer Kirin Holdings Co. in investing outside Japan, where stagnant wages and rising prices have sent consumer confidence to almost a five-year low. Otsuka's sales from food and beverages rose 3.8 percent last year, about a third the rate of its larger drugs business, and down from the 4.7 percent growth of the year earlier.

``Otsuka will gain a distribution channel to sell its health-food products and drinks in Europe,'' Shunichiro Manome, an equities analyst at Cosmo Securities Co., said. ``Its brands are targeted at consumers in developed countries with a high level of health consciousness.''

Alma, which has 34 factories in Europe, had sales of 780 million euros ($1.23 billion) last year. Its share of the French mineral water market was about 36 percent in 2007, the Nikkei newspaper reported earlier today.

``Otsuka is discussing specific products to sell in Europe'' through the alliance, including Pocari Sweat and Calorie Mates energy bars, spokeswoman Yuko Kikuchi said in a telephone interview.

Tokyo-based Otsuka's net income rose 17 percent to 61.9 billion yen last year.

Sales from food and beverages were 258.6 billion yen, accounting for 28 percent of total revenue.

Overseas Expansion

Kirin, Japan's biggest beverage maker, last month asked Australia's antitrust regulator for clearance to bid for Dairy Farmers, that nation's second-largest seller of fresh milk.

The brewer last year bought National Foods from San Miguel Corp. to gain Australian brands including Berri juice, Pura milk and King Island Dairy.