Shares in Brown-Forman jumped more than 12% today (9 April) after a report said Sazerac had approached its fellow US distiller about a possible deal.
The report in The Wall Street Journal sparked another jump in Brown-Forman’s share price two weeks after news the company was in talks to combine with Pernod Ricard pushed its stock higher.
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On 26 March, Brown-Forman and Pernod Ricard announced they were in discussions over a deal to form a “partnership akin to a merger of equals”. Their statements came hours after Bloomberg and Reuters reported the distillers had held discussions over a possible transaction.
Approached by Just Drinks for a statement on today’s WSJ report, a Sazerac spokesperson said: “We do not have a comment to provide.”
Brown-Forman had not returned a request for comment at the time of publication. At 13:12 ET, the company’s shares stood at $30.31, up 12.89% on the day.
The shares closed at $27.19 on Friday 27 March, the day after Brown-Forman and Pernod Ricard said they were in talks. Neither company has commented since but the prospect of a deal, which would be the largest in spirits for more than a decade, has sparked debate among industry observers about its merits and how the two companies – both of which have significant family shareholdings – would construct a transaction.
While Brown-Forman and Pernod Ricard are publicly listed, Sazerac is privately-owned by the Goldring family. William Goldring is the chairman of a company that owns brands including Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Southern Comfort whiskey and Sazerac de Forge Cognac.
Analysts at Barclays have said a deal between Brown-Forman and Pernod Ricard would see the combined entity leapfrog Sazerac and make the new business “a clear number-two player” in the US behind Diageo.
Last month, Sazerac snapped up US ready-to-drink cocktail brand Dirty Shirley from local business Goodwell Brands.
In December, the company acquired vodka brand Svedka from Constellation Brands.
