Pernod Ricard puts up Imperial Blue whisky for sale
₹5,000 crore from the sale, one of the three people said, while a second person said the sale plan was initiated three weeks ago. Pernod’s plan to sell Imperial Blue comes two years after rival Diageo sold a bunch of low-margin brands including Haywards, Honey Bee and Romanov, reflecting multinational liquor makers' preference for premium brands that sell less but earn more. Goldman Sachs declined to comment, while spokespersons for Pernod Ricard and Goldman Sachs did not respond to emailed queries.
“The brand would be of interest to private equity as well as other alcohol companies," one of the people cited above said, adding the process is still in the early stages. Also read | Pernod Ricard India aims to triple net sales in the next decade, says CEO Imperial Blue was originally owned by The Seagram Co. Ltd, a Canadian liquor maker.
Pernod Ricard came to own the brand in India in 2001, after the French company and Diageo jointly acquired Seagram's global spirits and wine businesses a year earlier. Other Seagram brands owned by Pernod include Royal Stag and Blender’s Pride. Imperial Blue competes with top-selling whiskies in India such as McDowell’s No1 from Diageo, Royal Stag from Pernod, and Officer's Choice from Allied Blenders and Distillers.
“It could be a margin play," the third person said, referring to relatively lower margins from brands such as Imperial Blue and Royal Stag. "Many multinationals want to get rid of their low margin profile businesses. Margins on 20-million-odd cases do not sit well with the margin profiles of large MNCs.
Pernod has been reducing focus on the brand for a year now," the person added. A transaction like this may not find too many suitors given its large size, the person said. “A
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