Business Notes MERGERS

Hunger pains seem to come regularly for Philip Morris, the food-and-tobacco giant. Although it acquired General Foods in 1985 and Kraft in 1988, the company (1989 revenues: $44.8 billion) was still on the lookout for new morsels. Last week Philip Morris said it agreed to spend $3.8 billion to gobble up Zurich-based Jacobs Suchard AG, the world's third largest producer of coffee and confections. Among Suchard's best-known brands: Tobler chocolate.

The Swiss firm apparently was agreeable to a takeover because its chairman, Klaus Jacobs, had incurred $500 million in debt when he bought out his family's interest in the company. That burden was aggravated by rising European interest rates and slumping profits. For Philip Morris, whose 3,000 consumer brands range from Miller Lite beer to Marlboro cigarettes, the takeover means a stronger presence in Europe and further diversification out of tobacco.