April 20 (Reuters) – Pernod Ricard, the maker of Absolut vodka and Jameson whiskey, has begun working on a potential initial public offering of its Indian business, Bloomberg News reported on Monday citing people familiar with the matter. The company’s Indian unit has started preparation and is working closely with Goldman Sachs and legal firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, according to the report.
The French distiller is likely to select advisers and start the formal process soon, Bloomberg reported, adding the deliberations are ongoing and the details of the offering could change.
A company spokesperson told Reuters that Pernod Ricard “regularly assesses and evaluates its strategic opportunities and is continuously exploring options to create value for its shareholders, including optimizing its capital structure. This is a usual process in line with management’s mission of delivering value to shareholders, employees, clients and stakeholders.”
“At this stage, no decision has been made regarding any particular action or involving any of these options,” the spokesperson added.
In February, the company’s CEO told Reuters that it had nothing new on the horizon in terms of an IPO of its Indian unit, following reports that it was mulling a listing.
The company is a major player in India’s alcohol market makers and competes with Johnnie Walker parent Diageo in the domestic alcohol market.
Pernod and Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman said last month that they were in talks over a possible merger, a deal that would combine the world’s second-largest spirits maker with the leading producer of American whiskey.
The company, the biggest Western spirits group after Diageo, warned last week that a decline in Middle East tourism due to the Iran war would weigh on its full-year net sales.
(Reporting by Angela Christy in Bengaluru; Editing by Diti Pujara)
