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Allied NewsPernod wins Absolut in fight for Vin & SpritPernod Ricard closed the gap on Diageo at the top of the global spirits league table yesterday after clinching the €5.63 billion (£4.48 billion) acquisition of the state-controlled Swedish company behind Absolut vodka.<br/> <br/> The announcement surprised the market as Fortune Brands, the American owner of Jim Beam bourbon, had been seen as the clear favourite to win the auction for Vin & Sprit (V&S), which also owns smaller brands such as Plymouth Gin, Cruzan rum and Luksusova vodka.<br/> <br/> The acquisition lifts the French group’s total annual volumes to about 91 million nine-litre cases compared with 110 million for Diageo, which withdrew from the V&S auction in order to buy 50 per cent of Ketel One vodka for $900 million ($£450 million). Pernod said that to avoid regulatory problems, it would relinquish distribution rights for Stolichnaya vodka.<br/> <br/> Fortune had been seen as the front-runner because it controls the distribution rights to Absolut in the US, the vodka’s biggest market with 5 million cases, through a joint venture with V&S. The Swedish group also has a 10 per cent stake in Fortune’s Beam Global Spirits & Wine business, although that is not included in the sale.<br/> <br/> Pernod said that, over the next four years, it would assume direct control of Absolut’s distribution by ending the Fortune joint venture and exiting the Maxxium venture that sells the brand in much of the rest of the world.<br/> <br/> Analysts suggested that Pernod had been forced to pay a hefty price to defeat Fortune. The other bidders were EQT, the Swedish investment firm, and Bacardi.<br/> <br/> Patrick Ricard, executive chairman of Pernod Ricard, admitted that the price was not cheap, but said the deal had been necessary to fill a key gap in the group’s portfolio. “The brand is for sale when it’s for sale. You buy it when it’s for sale or you miss it,” he said. He said that the resultant debt level of six times underlying earnings was manageable and in line with debt levels in the wake of its acquisition of Seagram, in 2001, and Allied Domecq, in 2005. Finance was underwritten by a con-sortium including BNP Paribas and Royal Bank of Scotland.<br/> <br/> Mr Ricard said that overtaking Diageo was not his main aim. “We have a large debt. So the first goal will be to deliver the synergies [of up to €150 million], to make the cash flow and to reimburse the debt, to get back to where we are today.”<br/> <br/> The sale of V&S is a key plank in the Swedish Government’s privatisation programme. Mats Odell, the Financial Markets Minister, said that it was a good deal: “The businesses will remain intact and production and marketing will continue in the Nordic region.”<br/> <br/> Absolut is the jewel in V&S’s crown, with sales of 10.7 million cases, making it the world’s fourth-bestselling international spirit brand behind Diageo’s Smirnoff vodka, Bacardi rum and Diageo’s Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky.Read Full Article Reigning Wagnerian Tenor Returns to ’Tristan’Ben Heppner rallied this weekend and sang Tuesday’s performance of Wagner’s ’Tristan und Isolde.’ And he was worth waiting for.Read Full Article Music Review: Reigning Wagnerian Tenor Returns to ’Tristan’Ben Heppner rallied last weekend and sang Tuesday’s performance of Wagner’s ?Tristan und Isolde.? And he was worth waiting for.Read Full Article Pakistan’s New Parliament Holds 1st SessionPakistan’s new parliament on Monday began its first session since Feb. 18 elections produced a landslide for parties opposed to U.S.-allied President Pervez Musharraf.Read Full Article UK shares rally on Fed’s $280bn cash injection$London stocks rallied this morning as investors reacted to the US Federal Reserve’s $280 billion overnight injection into money markets in a bid to shore up confidence in America’s ailing banks and bond insurers.$Read Full Article External News for: alliedFour Leading Independent Proxy Advisory Firms Recommend Vote "For" Proposed ... - MarketWatch (press release)Four Leading Independent Proxy Advisory Firms Recommend Vote "For" Proposed ...MarketWatch (press release)A proposal to approve the merger of ARCC Odyssey Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Ares Capital, and Allied Capital and to approve the Agreement and Plan ...and more »Four Leading Independent Proxy Advisory Firms Recommend Vote "For" Proposed ... - MarketWatch (press release)Four Leading Independent Proxy Advisory Firms Recommend Vote "For" Proposed ...MarketWatch (press release)A proposal to approve the merger of ARCC Odyssey Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Ares Capital, and Allied Capital and to approve the Agreement and Plan ...and more »SmarTrend's Candlestick Scanner Detects Bullish Harami Pattern for Allied ... - FOXBusinessSmarTrend's Candlestick Scanner Detects Bullish Harami Pattern for Allied ...FOXBusinessSmarTrend issued an Uptrend alert on shares of Allied Irish Banks on March 05, 2010 at $3.87 per share (3.1% return since that call). ...Allied Irish Banks Can Recapture Lost GroundTheStreet.com (subscription)Ireland's 'Citigroup' Gets St. Patrick's Day PopCNBCWednesday's biggest gaining and declining stocksMarketWatchIrish Independentall 50 news articles »Four Leading Independent Proxy Advisory Firms Recommend Vote "For" Proposed ... - MarketWatch (press release)Four Leading Independent Proxy Advisory Firms Recommend Vote "For" Proposed ...MarketWatch (press release)A proposal to approve the merger of ARCC Odyssey Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Ares Capital, and Allied Capital and to approve the Agreement and Plan ...and more »SmarTrend's Candlestick Scanner Detects Bullish Harami Pattern for Allied ... - FOXBusinessSmarTrend's Candlestick Scanner Detects Bullish Harami Pattern for Allied ...FOXBusinessSmarTrend issued an Uptrend alert on shares of Allied Irish Banks on March 05, 2010 at $3.87 per share (3.1% return since that call). ...Allied Irish Banks Can Recapture Lost GroundTheStreet.com (subscription)Ireland's 'Citigroup' Gets St. Patrick's Day PopCNBCWednesday's biggest gaining and declining stocksMarketWatchIrish Independentall 50 news articles »Medical Connections Signs Definitive Agreement to Buy Trustaff Management, Inc. - MarketWatch (press release)Medical Connections Signs Definitive Agreement to Buy Trustaff Management, Inc.MarketWatch (press release)As one of the fastest growing names in the healthcare staffing industry, Trustaff is dedicated to placing doctors, nurses, pharmacists and allied healthcare ...Medical Connections Signs Definitive Agreement To Acquire Trustaff Management ...RTT Newsall 13 news articles » |
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