Kraft Heinz has made a $143bn (€134.5bn) offer for Unilever in what would be the largest-ever takeover in the food or beverage industry, opening a campaign to create a consumer-goods giant with household names from Dove soap to Heinz ketchup.

Shares in Guinness maker Diageo built up a head today as investors responded to reports that Brazil’s richest man was preparing a bid for the British drinks maker.

The global food giant Heinz, which famously makes beans and tomato sauce, has been bought for $23bn (€17.2bn) by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Jorge Paulo Lemann’s 3G Capital