Japanese building materials company Lixil is to buy a majority stake in German luxury bathroom firm Grohe for $4.1bn (£2.5bn).
It is the biggest ever takeover of a German firm by a Japanese company.
Editor of British magazine Kitchens Bedrooms & Bathrooms, Ruth Bell told BBC World Service why there was growing interest in high-end sanitary ware, such as "insanely expensive" toilets costing up to $9,000.