Four Roses on the Market

[kitzg]

This (Jan 17) morning Richard Burrows, Pernod Ricard's MD, confirmed

the results of the Seagram acquisition and told the

assorted press he was ready to sell both Seagram's and

Pernod Ricard's non-core activities. Sandemans Port,

Passport Scotch whisky and Four Roses Bourbon are now on

the market, as is UK off-licence chain Oddbins. Add to list

Pernod Ricard's BWG distribution network, its fruit

preparation assets and, of course Orangina, plus other

non-alcoholic drinks. It's going to be quite a year for

the French group, now number three in the world behind

Diageo and Allied Domecq.

Burrows

told our source that the majority of production

staff will be retained for the brands it has acquired and

some of the marketing staff would make the transition -

but "naturally there will be job losses in the marketing

division," he said. He also said it was too early to give

any percentages of potential redundancies.