PARIS (Reuters) -Pernod Ricard said on Wednesday it had agreed to sell its Imperial Blue whisky business to Indian liquor maker Tilaknagar Industries, as the French spirits group boosts its focus on premium labels in its portfolio.
The world’s No. 2 Western spirits maker did not disclose the value of the deal, but said that on completion it was expected to be “immediately and meaningfully accretive” to Pernod Ricard India’s operating margin and net sales growth rate.
The transaction is subject to approval from the competition commission of India, and is expected to close within the coming months, Pernod Ricard said in a statement.
The news comes as the French group looks to streamline its business and focus on its core portfolio of pricey, global brands amid a sector-wide downturn in sales.
Pernod Ricard Chairman and CEO Alexandre Ricard said the sale would “sharpen our focus on more profitable and faster growing brands in India, as in the rest of the world”.
Jean Touboul, CEO of Pernod Ricard India, said it would notably allow Pernod Ricard to allocate resources more effectively towards high-growth brands in India such as Royal Stag and Blenders Pride, as well as international brands like Chivas, Jameson, Absolut, and Ballantine’s.
Pernod Ricard sees India, the group second-largest market, as key to future growth. Alcohol sales in India are projected to hit $61.35 billion in fiscal 2025–26, according to CRISIL.
Imperial Blue, a top-selling mass-market whisky, competes in India with the likes of United Spirits’ McDowell’s No.1.
Pernod Ricard views it as a local, value brand, and therefore not as central to its strategy as pricier, global labels like Chivas Regal.
For Tilaknagar Industries, a dominant player in India’s brandy market with Mansion House, the deal marks a strategic shift into whisky, a faster-growing, higher-margin segment.
Tilaknagar Industries has been in turnaround mode, returning to profit after debt restructuring and widening distribution.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Inbrew Beverages and Tilaknagar Industries were each looking to raise around $500 million as they competed to buy Imperial Blue.
Global spirits makers have been scrambling to adjust their businesses to a sharp and sustained drop in sales in many markets after a boom in pricey liquor sales during the pandemic went into reverse amid high inflation and interest rates.
Companies like Pernod Ricard have also faced tariff threats in key markets like the United States and China, and worries about longer-term challenges such as some drinkers cutting back or health warnings from authorities.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon in Paris and Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru. Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Mark Potter)
