Pernod Ricard

Pernod Ricard (Euronext: RI) is a French company producing alcoholic beverages. Their most famous product, Pastis, is often referred to as simply Ricard.

Reborn from the Pernod Fils company as a producer of Pastis following the ban on Absinthe, it is now a worldwide conglomerate. It owns the Austin, Nichols company (maker of Wild Turkey whiskies) and the alcoholic beverage division of the former Seagram corporation, among many other holdings. In 2005, the company acquired British-based international competitor Allied Domecq plc. This acquisition made it one of the world's largest beverage groups, behind only InBev and Diageo by sales. Charles Pasqua, a right-wing politican, was its CEO for a time.

Pernod Ricard owns a wide variety of beverage brands worldwide. These include:

As of 26 July 2005, the brand portfolio expanded to include former Allied Domecq products:

Lincolnshire, Illinois-based Fortune Brands acquired a number of former Allied Domecq brands from Pernod Ricard following Pernod Ricard’s acquisition of Allied Domecq. These include:

Fortune Brands’ agreement with Pernod Ricard also includes the purchase of the Maker’s Mark bourbon brand, which remains subject to regulatory clearance in the United States. While the U.S. Federal Trade Commission conducts its review, Maker’s Mark will be owned and managed by Pernod Ricard and Pernod Ricard will receive the earnings on the brand. Fortune Brands will be compensated with interest payments pending transfer of the brand.

This article is licenced under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pernod Ricard".