UPDATE 2-Barry Callebaut buys into Malaysia chocolate-maker

(Adds financial details from KL Kepong)

ZURICH, March 31 (Reuters) - Switzerland's Barry Callebaut (BARN.S), the world's largest chocolate maker, expanded further in Asia on Monday with a deal to buy 60 percent of a Malaysian chocolate business for around $48 million.

Barry Callebaut, which is buying the stake in KL-Kepong Cocoa Products from Malaysia-listed Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLKK.KL), is looking to tap into growing demand for chocolate in Asia as the middle-class grows and people have more disposable income.

"There is a growing middle class in countries like China," a spokeswoman for Barry Callebaut said. "People are growing more curious, they want to travel more and discover new tastes."

Barry Callebaut agreed to pay an initial 153.6 million ringgit ($48.1 million), plus 60 percent of the difference between KL-Kepong Cocoa's net working capital and net debt at completion of the transaction, Kuala Lumpur Kepong said.

KLK Cocoa has annual sales of around $150 million.

"The new presence in Malaysia will serve as a strong basis to us to further expand our footprint in Asia and to facilitate cocoa-bean sourcing from neighbouring country Indonesia, which is the world's third largest producer of cocoa," Barry Callebaut said in a statement.

In January, Barry Callebaut, which produces chocolate for companies such as Nestle (NESN.VX) and Cadbury CBRY.L, opened a chocolate factory in China and last year it secured an outsourcing deal and bought capacity production from Japan's Morinaga (2201.T).

KLK Cocoa's factory has an annual capacity of 70,000 metric tonnes for cocoa products such as cocoa liquor, cocoa powder and cocoa butter, and has annual capacity of 10,000 metric tonnes for the chocolate and compound.

Kuala Lumpur Kepong, whose main business is producing palm oil, said the deal would allow its chocolate business to expand and secure upstream cocoa-bean supplies from West Africa while continuing to develop its chocolate manufacturing capability.

The deal is subject to Malaysian government approval and is expected to close by the end of April. (Reporting by Katie Reid in Zurich and Mark Bendeich in Kuala Lumpur; editing by Sue Thomas and Anshuman Daga)