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Pernod to buy Allied Domecq

Thursday, April 21, 2005 | 11:01 a.m.

Pernod Ricard SA agreed to buy Allied Domecq Plc for 7.4 billion pounds ($14 billion) in cash and stock, gaining brands such as Ballantine's whisky and Beefeater gin to become the world's second-largest liquor maker.

As part of the transaction, Fortune Brands Inc., the U.S. maker of Jim Beam bourbon, will buy Allied Domecq brands including Canadian Club whisky and some distribution operations from Pernod for 2.8 billion pounds, Pernod Chairman Patrick Ricard said in Paris today. Pernod shares rose to a record.

Ricard said the 670-pence-a-share purchase of the British distiller will double Pernod's sales for the second time in five years and make the company a "strong contender" to take on industry leader Diageo Plc. The biggest takeover in the liquor industry since 1997 reflects drinks makers' need for an array of products and the size to command better prices from retailers in the U.S., where demand is growing faster than in Europe.

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