France’s Pernod Ricard has won an auction to acquire Sweden’s Vin & Sprit, the maker of Absolut vodka, reports the WSJ. The details of the winning bid were not immediately clear but V&S, owned by the Swedish government, was expected to fetch as much as $7bn. Pernod beat Fortune Brands of the US to the bid after two other contenders, Bacardi and a Swedish buy-out group led by EQT, fell out of the running. An announcement is expected Monday. The FT cites Lehman analysts saying Pernod could raise up to $2bn ($3.2bn) from selling some wine assets, and could also sell some smaller European brands, to finance a purchase of Absolut.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 5:39 and is filed under Capital markets, M&A, Private equity. Tagged with Pernod Ricard, vin & sprit. Edit this entry.