FTC
CLEARS FORTUNE BRANDS ACQUISITION
OF MAKER’S MARK
Washington,
D.C. October 3, 2005…Howrey
LLP announced today that the FTC has approved
Fortune Brands, Inc.’s acquisition
of Maker’s Mark, a premium bourbon
owned by Allied Domecq.
The FTC clearance concludes the agency’s
review of a complex three-party transaction
in which Pernod Ricard S.A. acquired Allied
Domecq plc and Fortune Brands will acquire
more than 20 of the former Allied brands
from Pernod.
Earlier this year, the FTC staff issued
a second request regarding Maker’s
Mark and conducted an in depth review,
which included investigational hearings.
A staged review was made possible after
the Howrey team convinced the FTC to allow
Fortune to proceed with the acquisition
of all of the brands except Maker’s
Mark, which was held by Pernod Ricard
while the FTC completed the investigation.
The investigation focused on potential
overlaps between Maker’s Mark and
Fortune Brands’ existing bourbon
brands.
The FTC unconditionally cleared Fortune
Brands’ purchase of Allied brands
and assets unlike other recent significant
distilled spirits deals -- Guinness/Grand
Met and Diageo/Seagrams –where the
FTC required divestitures. The Fortune
Brands acquisition from Allied cleared
without any divestitures or other FTC-ordered
relief.
The brands to be acquired will more than
double Fortune’s spirits and wine
sales. The global wine and spirits brands
acquired by Fortune include Courvoisier
cognac, Canadian Club whisky, Sauza tequila,
Laphroaig scotch, and Clos du Bois wines.
Maker’s Mark will complement Fortune
Brands’ existing bourbon products,
which include Jim Beam and Knob Creek.
The Howrey team was led by Chris MacAvoy
and Michael Cowie and included Jim Rill,
Mark Schechter, Oral Pottinger and Victor
Cohen as well as Artie De Castro, Samantha
Woolf, Sowmia Nair, Heather Huff, Jennifer
Samolyk, Mike Obernesser, Tom Ruffner,
Joe Siprut, Angad Katyal, Heidi Krause,
Mike Kupka, Greg Schernecke, Kyle Tayman.
CapAnalysis provided valuable economic
assistance led by Dr. Susan Manning, Jeff
Rudnicki, Loren Poulsen, and Tim Ebner.
