Neither Brown-Forman nor Sazerac Co has chosen to comment on speculation linking the two American whiskey specialists to negotiations over a possible “deal”.
A report in the Wall Street Journal late yesterday (9 April) claimed that privately-owned Sazerac “recently approached” Brown-Forman “about a potential deal”. The article provided no further details beyond the one-sentence claim, citing unspecified “people familiar with the matter”.
The speculation comes almost exactly two weeks after Brown-Forman and Pernod Ricard confirmed separately that they were in discussions about a potential “business combination” that, should the talks end successfully, would be “akin to a merger of equals”.
While neither Brown-Forman nor Sazerac has commented on yesterday’s report, Global Drinks Intel understands the negotiations between the former and Pernod Ricard remain ongoing.
Brown-Forman, which saw its share price leap by almost 13% immediately after the publication of the Wall Street Journal’s article, and Buffalo Trace bourbon owner Sazerac have held deal discussions before; almost exactly ten years ago, the Jack Daniel’s distiller completed the divestment of its Southern Comfort and Tuaca brands to Sazerac for a fee of just over US$540m.
