Dive Brief:
- Pernod Ricard is buying Kenwood Vineyards, a winemaker from California's Napa Valley, as the spirits company looks to increase its market share in the United States.
- Exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the price is reportedly less than $100 million.
- The purchase moves Pernod into the Top 15 winemakers in the United States.
Dive Insight:
Pernod is the world's second-largest spirits maker (trailing only Diageo), and the United States is the company's largest market. So there's no surprise that the French company would have the pockets, and the interest, to expand here.
What's interesting, however, is that Pernod's purchase appears to be part of a larger push by global drinks companies to invest in the United States as markets in Asia fail to deliver hoped-for growth.