Brown Family Backs Pernod Ricard Bid for Brown-Forman

Pernod Ricard has gained the backing of the Brown family in its pursuit of Brown-Forman, according to a report from Bloomberg, as the French spirits group seeks a deal that would combine two of the industry’s best-known names and potentially sideline a competing takeover offer from Sazerac.

The discussions, which have not been publicly confirmed by any of the companies involved, center on a possible “merger of equals” between Pernod Ricard and Brown-Forman, the Kentucky company behind Jack Daniel’s and Woodford Reserve. The Brown family, which has controlled Brown-Forman for five generations since the company was founded in 1870, is said to favor that structure over Sazerac’s all-cash bid, which values Brown-Forman at about $15 billion.

Sazerac, another family-controlled American spirits company, has offered roughly $32 a share for Brown-Forman, above the company’s closing price of $28.94 on Wall Street on Monday. Brown-Forman’s market value stood at about $13.47 billion at that close, compared with Pernod Ricard’s €17 billion, or about $20.01 billion.

People familiar with the talks say the Browns see strategic advantages in a combination with Pernod Ricard, which they view as having a broader global brand portfolio and a stronger international distribution network than Sazerac. They also prefer a structure that would leave them with some ownership in the combined company through an exchange of shares rather than a full sale for cash.

Under one proposal being discussed, about 80% of the consideration would come in shares and the rest in cash, giving Brown-Forman shareholders a premium to where the stock traded when Pernod Ricard first approached the company. That cash portion would increase Pernod Ricard’s debt load, though the French group could look for other ways to keep its debt-to-equity ratio near current levels.

Brown-Forman has not commented publicly on the negotiations. Pernod Ricard also has not confirmed any deal talks. The company said only that it regularly reviews strategic options and capital structure choices to create value for shareholders, employees, clients and other stakeholders, while stressing that no decision has been made on any specific action.

The reported interest in Brown-Forman comes as Pernod Ricard is also weighing whether to list its Indian business, a move that would give it access to one of its fastest-growing markets and could raise capital at a time when global spirits companies are under pressure to sharpen their portfolios and manage debt more carefully.

India is Pernod Ricard’s second-largest market and one of its most profitable. In its latest quarter, organic sales there rose 11% from the same period in 2025. The company has acknowledged market speculation about an initial public offering of its Indian affiliate but has not confirmed any plan.

A partial listing would put Pernod Ricard closer to Diageo’s model in India, where Diageo controls United Spirits through a 55.58% stake acquired after its 2013 takeover of Vijay Mallya’s holding. For Pernod Ricard, any move in India would come alongside broader questions about how aggressively it wants to deploy capital as it weighs one of the biggest potential deals in the spirits business this year.