MORE AMERICAN BRANDS &lt;AMB> ACQUISITIONS SEEN
  American Brands Inc's 545 mln dlrs
  acquisition of National Distillers and Chemical Corp's liquor
  business is expected to be one of a series of acquisitions by
  the tobacco company, analysts said.
       "They were very frustrated with their inability to get
  Chesebrough. They said they were looking for an acquisition. It
  doesn't surprise me that they came up with another one," said
  Allan Kaplan of Merrill Lynch and Co.
      American Brands failed late last year in its 2.9 billion
  dlrs bid for Chesebrough-Ponds Inc when Unilever N.V. agreed to
  buy the company. But since then, Wall Street has been
  speculating that American Brands would find another candidate
  to help reduce its earnings exposure to tobacco.
      "This is just typical," said George Thompson of
  Prudential-Bache securities. "There's going to be more to come
  here. American Brands had to make an acquisition because
  tobacco is still a significant part of earnings. Their position
  is a little less favorable than Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds,"
  he said.
  cash flow from its low growth tobacco, but the tobacco business
  does require great amounts of capital expenditures. It can
  therefore use its funds to make acquisitions. Analysts said the
  National Distillers' spirits company, which makes Gilbey's gin
  and vodka, Old Grandad and Old Crow whiskey, is not quite the
  type of acquisition they envisioned.
      "The distilled spirits business has been in a steady
  gradual decline for sometime, as has the tobacco business,"
  said Thompson.
   REUTER...
  

