“Merger of Equals”? Brown-Forman Confirms Talks with Pernod

Dear Client: Yesterday, business outlets from Bloomberg (who first broke the “news”) to Reuters reported that French wine and spirits giant Pernod Ricard and Kentucky-based top U.S. whiskey producer (maker of Jack Daniel’s) Brown-Forman “have held talks over a possible merger,” per “a source familiar with the matter.” As Wine & Spirits Daily reported yesterday, Pernod has a market cap of about $18.6 billion, while B-F’s market value is closer to $11 billion. (We lead with it in BBD today,