By Richard Thomas
(Credit: Richard Thomas)
In the wake of several speculative articles in the business news yesterday morning, French drinks giant Pernod Ricard and American whiskey heavyweight Brown-Forman confirmed that they were exploring a merger. Both companies described the intent with identical language, describing what they hoped to achieve as “akin to a merger of equals, drawing from the talent and expertise of both companies, and creating value for shareholders of both companies.”
Pernod Ricard is the world’s second largest drinks company, generating €12.75 billion in revenue in 2024. Headquartered in France, it is publicly traded and owns over 200 brands in spirits and wine, but in the whiskey sector they are best known as the parent company of Irish Distillers, owners of New Midleton Distillery and makers of Jameson Irish Whiskey; and also Chivas Brothers, who make Chivas Regal, Ballantine’s, The Glenlivet and other associated brands. In North America, they own Lot 40 Canadian Whisky, Jefferson’s Bourbon, JP Wiser’s, Rabbit Hole and Smooth Ambler.
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Brown-Forman is also a publicly-traded company, but remains controlled by the Brown family through their ownership of the majority of shares and the overwhelming majority of Class A voting shares. The company had $5.37 billion in revenue in 2025, making it roughly one-third the size of Pernod Ricard by that measure. They are best known as the makers of Old Forester and Woodford Reserve bourbons, as well as the owners of Jack Daniel’s. In Scotland, they own the BenRiach trio of distilleries; and in Ireland they own Slane Irish Whiskey.
Both companies have extensive holdings outside of the whiskey industries, so whiskey industry observers should remember this merger is about more than our sector of interest, But within the whiskey sector, each company is strong in the regions where the other is weak: Brown-Forman is predominantly a bourbon company with a toehold in Irish and Scotch whiskies, while Pernod Ricard is a Scotch and Irish goliath whose presence in North America peaks with a medium-sized bourbon distillery in Rabbit Hole.
(Credit: Richard Thomas)
The merger would also create a truly huge company, closing the distance between Pernod Ricard and the world’s largest drinks conglomerate, Diageo. Pernod-Ricard has long been rated as the world’s second largest drinks company, but the distance between the French company and their British rival has been measured in the several billions of pounds or euros. * Brown-Forman also has historical size reasons to be frustrated with Diageo: although in the last few years, Jack Daniel’s slipped behind Jim Beam in terms of raw sales, for decades the number one and number two whiskeys in the world were firmly set as Diageo’s crown jewel Johnnie Walker and Jack Daniel’s. The two brands were very much seen as in constant competition with each other, but with Walker always staying ahead.
* A related, but separate issue is where Suntory comes into the size comparison. Suntory Global Spirits, the company that Beam-Suntory became, is ranked third behind Diageo and Pernod Ricard. However, the parent conglomerate of Suntory Holdings is much, much larger, with $21.2 billion in revenue in 2024, but also owns non-alcoholic drinks companies.
