Sazerac Co has completed yet another brand stake purchase, this time in RTD SipMargs, at the same time as speculation about a takeover of rival Brown-Forman has dimmed.
Less than a month after buying outright control of the Dirty Shirley RTD mark, privately-owned Sazerac announced its purchase today (13 May) of a stake in SipMargs. The tequila-based, sparkling margarita-focused brand, which consists of five SKUs – Classic, Coconut, Mango, Mezcal and Spicy – has also signed an exclusive distribution arrangement with the Buffalo Trace owner.
The size of the holding, as well as its price, was not disclosed by either party.
SipMargs, which relaunched in March last year thanks in part to a funding injection from social media influencer & podcast host Alix Earle (above), will sit alongside the likes of Dirty Shirley and BuzzBallz, which entered the fold two years ago, in Sazerac’s RTD portfolio. The Louisville, Kentucky-headquartered company owns in the region of 550 brands.
“Margaritas continue to be one of the staple go-to cocktails consumers reach for time and again, and SipMargs’ sparkling flavours offer something unique to the market,” said Sazerac CEO Jake Wenz. “We’re looking forward to helping SipMargs accelerate their already impressive momentum.”
The purchase coincided with a report in the Wall Street Journal that claimed Brown-Forman has turned down a takeover offer by Sazerac that had valued the Jack Daniel’s producer at around US$15bn. The publication, which reported last month that the two companies had held talks about an acquisition, cited unnamed sources on both occasions, with neither side choosing to comment further.
Having confirmed the commencement of merger negotiations in March, Brown-Forman and Pernod Ricard announced two weeks ago that the talks had concluded without an agreement being reached.
