Spirits maker Beam Suntory plans to move its global headquarters to Chicago from its longtime home in Deerfield, joining a stampede of companies ditching suburban office parks for downtown buildings.

While a deal has not yet been finalized, Beam has been searching for space downtown for several months and appears to be close to a deal to move its nearly 500 headquarters employees to about 100,000 square feet in the Merchandise Mart, sources confirmed to Crain's. Beam initially would sublease the 16th-floor space from Motorola Mobility, which vacated about 200,000 square feet in the building last year in a downsizing.

Beam, which has been based in Deerfield since 1988, moved into its current space at 510 Lake Cook Road around the time it was spun off from Fortune Brands in 2011. The company was acquired three years later by Suntory Holdings of Japan in a deal valued at about $16 billion.

The timing of a move downtown is unknown. Spokespeople for Beam Suntory and Motorola Mobility declined to comment.

Landing Beam would nudge along the transformation of the giant Merchandise Mart, which is becoming more than just a home for small tech startups. Among the companies moving in are software firm VelocityEHS, which is bringing its headquarters and 300 workers to 90,000 square feet of the former Motorola space; and ConAgra, which is moving its corporate headquarters and some 700 employees to the Mart this summer from Omaha, Neb.

Beam also would become the latest major corporation to heed to the siren song of downtown Chicago, lured largely by the prospect of being able to better recruit and retain younger employees reluctant to commute from their city homes to sleepy suburban office parks.

But unlike its contemporaries, including ADM, ConAgra, Kraft Heinz and Hillshire Brands,, among others, Beam doesn't appear to be slimming down as part of the planned move. The company plans to inhabit a space of similar size in the Mart.

Beam's possible move was first reported by the Chicago Tribune.

Crain's reporters John Pletz and Alby Gallun contributed.