Sazerac Company To Acquire Brands, Canadian
Mist Production Assets
Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE: BFA) (NYSE: BFB) announced today
that it has reached an agreement to sell the Early Times, Canadian
Mist, and Collingwood brands, and the Canadian Mist production
assets, to Sazerac Company.
“Early Times and Canadian Mist have been valued brands in our
portfolio for many years, and they each have played significant
roles in our company’s history,” said Lawson Whiting, President and
Chief Executive Officer, Brown-Forman Corporation. “We are thankful
to all the people who have distilled, bottled, shipped, marketed,
and distributed these brands with care over the years.”
This sale reflects the continued evolution of the company's
portfolio strategy to focus on premium brands. Brown-Forman has
actively managed the shape and contents of its portfolio over the
last decade and a half through developing, acquiring, and divesting
various businesses and brands. The company believes this portfolio
management, alongside innovation, will allow it to continue to
focus on the best growth prospects and value creation over the long
term.
Early Times, which is celebrating its 160th anniversary this
year, was the first brand Brown-Forman purchased in 1923. Canadian
Mist joined its portfolio in 1971 and was the company’s first
production operations outside of the United States.
“We are delighted to acquire such iconic brands as well as the
Canadian Mist Distillery,” said Mark Brown, President and Chief
Executive Officer, Sazerac Company. “Brown-Forman has done an
excellent job building these brands over the years and we expect to
invest in the brands and grow their sales in the coming years.”
The sale of these brands is expected to close later this summer.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP advised Brown-Forman in this
transaction. Cooley LLP provided legal advice to Sazerac.
About Brown-Forman
For 150 years, Brown-Forman Corporation has enriched the
experience of life by responsibly building fine quality beverage
alcohol brands, including Jack Daniel’s Family of Brands,
Finlandia, Korbel, el Jimador, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester,
Coopers’ Craft, Canadian Mist, Herradura, New Mix, Sonoma-Cutrer,
Early Times, Chambord, BenRiach, GlenDronach, Slane, and Fords Gin.
Brown-Forman’s brands are supported by approximately 4,800
employees and sold in more than 170 countries worldwide. For more
information about the company, please visit
http://www.brown-forman.com/.
About Sazerac
Sazerac is one of America’s oldest family owned, privately held
distillers with operations in the United States in Louisiana,
Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, New Hampshire, South
Carolina, Maryland, California, and global operations in the United
Kingdom, Ireland, France, India, Australia and Canada.
Important Information on Forward-Looking Statements: This
press release contains statements, estimates, and projections that
are “forward-looking statements” as defined under U.S. federal
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“believe,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “envision,” “estimate,”
“expect,” “expectation,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,”
“potential,” “project,” “pursue,” “see,” “seek,” “should,” “will,”
“would,” and similar words indicate forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date we make them. Except as required by
law, we do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events,
or otherwise. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve
risks, uncertainties, and other factors (many beyond our control)
that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our
historical experience or from our current expectations or
projections. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to:
- Impact of health epidemics and pandemics, including the
COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting negative economic impact and
related governmental actions
- Risks associated with being a U.S.-based company with global
operations, including commercial, political, and financial risks;
local labor policies and conditions; protectionist trade policies,
or economic or trade sanctions, including additional retaliatory
tariffs on American spirits and the effectiveness of our actions to
mitigate the negative impact on our margins, sales, and
distributors; compliance with local trade practices and other
regulations; terrorism; and health pandemics
- Failure to comply with anti-corruption laws, trade sanctions
and restrictions, or similar laws or regulations
- Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly a
stronger U.S. dollar
- Changes in laws, regulatory measures, or governmental policies
– especially those that affect the production, importation,
marketing, labeling, pricing, distribution, sale, or consumption of
our beverage alcohol products
- Tax rate changes (including excise, sales, VAT, tariffs,
duties, corporate, individual income, dividends, or capital gains)
or changes in related reserves, changes in tax rules or accounting
standards, and the unpredictability and suddenness with which they
can occur
- Unfavorable global or regional economic conditions,
particularly related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and related economic
slowdowns or recessions, low consumer confidence, high
unemployment, weak credit or capital markets, budget deficits,
burdensome government debt, austerity measures, higher interest
rates, higher taxes, political instability, higher inflation,
deflation, lower returns on pension assets, or lower discount rates
for pension obligations
- Dependence upon the continued growth of the Jack Daniel’s
family of brands
- Changes in consumer preferences, consumption, or purchase
patterns – particularly away from larger producers in favor of
small distilleries or local producers, or away from brown spirits,
our premium products, or spirits generally, and our ability to
anticipate or react to them; legalization of marijuana use on a
more widespread basis; shifts in consumer purchase practices from
traditional to e-commerce retailers; bar, restaurant, travel, or
other on-premise declines; shifts in demographic or health and
wellness trends; or unfavorable consumer reaction to new products,
line extensions, package changes, product reformulations, or other
product innovation
- Decline in the social acceptability of beverage alcohol in
significant markets
- Production facility, aging warehouse, or supply chain
disruption
- Imprecision in supply/demand forecasting
- Higher costs, lower quality, or unavailability of energy,
water, raw materials, product ingredients, labor, or finished
goods
- Significant additional labeling or warning requirements or
limitations on availability of our beverage alcohol products
- Competitors’ and retailers’ consolidation or other competitive
activities, such as pricing actions (including price reductions,
promotions, discounting, couponing, or free goods), marketing,
category expansion, product introductions, or entry or expansion in
our geographic markets or distribution networks
- Route-to-consumer changes that affect the timing of our sales,
temporarily disrupt the marketing or sale of our products, or
result in higher fixed costs
- Inventory fluctuations in our products by distributors,
wholesalers, or retailers
- Risks associated with acquisitions, dispositions, business
partnerships, or investments – such as acquisition integration,
termination difficulties or costs, or impairment in recorded
value
- Counterfeiting and inadequate protection of our intellectual
property rights
- Product recalls or other product liability claims, product
tampering, contamination, or quality issues
- Significant legal disputes and proceedings, or government
investigations
- Cyber breach or failure or corruption of key information
technology systems, or failure to comply with personal data
protection laws
- Negative publicity related to our company, products, brands,
marketing, executive leadership, employees, board of directors,
family stockholders, operations, business performance, or
prospects
- Failure to attract or retain key executive or employee
talent
- Our status as a family “controlled company” under New York
Stock Exchange rules, and our dual-class share structure
For further information on these and other risks, please refer
to our public filings, including the “Risk Factors” section of our
annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200615005390/en/
ELIZABETH CONWAY Brown-Forman Director External Communications
502-774-7737
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