PERNOD “PRIORITIZES” STOLI AND ABSOLUT

Pernod chief Patrick Ricard said acquiring Stolichnaya and Absolut are the company’s top priorities for the time being. During a visit to China, Patrick remained mum at a briefing when asked how negotiations are going with Russian group SPI (owners of Stolichnaya).

However, Pernod’s managing director, Pierre Pringuet, wasn’t so tight lipped on the subject of Absolut. He told reporters that Pernod has made its buying “intentions clear” and are now waiting for the Swedes to decide.

Is the company aiming to acquire both vodka brands?

Aside from the briefing, Pierre told Reuters: "It's pretty clear that one of the vodkas would be the priority today.” He pointed out that Pernod must remain cautious, however, because “of course we're not going to come with a pile of debt. We must remain reasonable.”

When announcing Pernod’s first-half results in March, Patrick Ricard said the following in regards to Stoli and Absolut:

“Well, we have the financial means to put a bid on both. We feel there would not be any regulatory problems, but one or the other brand would be plenty for us.”

“I think we’ve shown since the creation that when we want to do something, we find the means and endow ourselves with the means to do so.”

In the beginning we felt Beam Global was the most likely candidate to acquire Absolut, but now we’re not quite sure.