The Scoop
Brown-Forman and Pernod Ricard’s $15 billion deal talks fell apart not over price, but over control.
The two families behind the liquor giants — one a multi-generation Kentucky stalwart and the other a French clan that traces its lineage back to 1805 — couldn’t agree on how much of the combined company each would control, people familiar with the matter said. The Brown family wields about 80% of Brown-Forman’s voting power, while the Ricard heirs control about 21% of their family business.
Pernod’s controlling shareholder, the Ricard family, remains open to reengaging with Brown-Forman if the Brown family were willing to open discussions on that point, one of the people briefed on the conversations said.
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Brown-Forman is the slightly smaller of the two, but its family wanted an ownership in the combined company that would have been larger than the Ricard family’s, the people said. Pernod’s offer, while billed as a merger of equals, gave rise to thorny issues that the two sides couldn’t square.
Forman and Pernod weren’t far apart on price, people close to both companies said. Brown-Forman is still in discussions with Sazerac, which itself is controlled by the New Orleans-based Goldring family.
Representatives for Brown-Forman and Pernod Ricard declined to comment.