UPDATE 1-Japan's Nissin to buy stake in Russian noodle maker

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TOKYO Dec 26 (Reuters) - Nissin Foods Holdings Co (2897.T), Japan's top instant noodle maker, said on Friday it would buy a one-third stake in Russia's largest instant noodle group for about $296 million, making a foray into the fast-growing market.

Japanese food companies have been stepping up overseas acquisitions in the face of weak growth prospects at home as the population ages.

Earlier this week, Japan's largest beer maker Asahi Breweries Ltd (2502.T) said it had agreed to buy Cadbury's CBRY.L Schweppes soft drinks business in Australia for about $810 million in what would be the firm's biggest acquisition. [ID:nLO247339]

Nissin, the maker of Cup Noodles, said it would buy the 33.5 percent stake in steps starting in January through the purchase of new shares in Angleside Ltd, the holding company for instant noodle maker LLC Mareven Food Central.

The Russian group controls 41 percent of the country's instant noodle market, Nissin said.

Russia is the world's ninth-largest instant noodle market with annual consumption of about 2 billion servings, and the Japanese firm said it saw an opportunity in the fast rise in sales of higher-end items there.

Japan is the No. 3 market with 5.4 billion servings, after China and Indonesia, according to Nissin.

Shares of Nissin had fallen 0.9 percent to 3,160 yen by the midday break, underperforming a 1 percent rise in the benchmark Nikkei average .N225. ($1=90.50 Yen) (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka and Yumiko Nishitani; Editing by Chris Gallagher)