CHICAGO (Dow Jones) -- Flush with a portfolio of new tipples and leaving an increasingly large global footprint, Jim Beam Brands has given itself the corporate equivalent of a makeover, dropping its first name to emphasize the new, more worldwide nature of its business.

While it won't be formally announced until Monday, the unit of Fortune Brands (FO)(FO) is now operating under the "Beam Global Wine & Spirits" moniker. The change was sparked in large part by its $5 billion acquisition of a stable of top-shelf liquor and wine in the breakup and sell-off of Allied Domecq last year. That deal brought the company Sauza tequila, Courvoisier cognac, Canadian Club whisky and a raft of new wines, among other beverages.

Pernod Ricard of France got the rest of the Allied Domecq brands, with the exception of Bushmills, which went to Diageo (DEO) (DEO) .

More to the point, though, the Deerfield, Ill.-based Beam more than doubled the size of its top line to $2.5 billion, added a couple thousand employees spread from Scotland to Mexico to France -- and cut the percentage of sales generated in the U.S. from 75% to about half. The purchase also lifted Beam from No. 7 to No. 4 among global spirits companies and raised its contribution to parent Fortune Brands (FO) from 30% of operating income to 45% of operating income.

The new name is one way to bring together the company's widely disparate workers -- from the expert cognac taster to the employee who sweeps up at the tequila factory, said Beam Chief Executive Tom Flocco.

"We want to get them all aligned with a common purpose," he said. The company needed an identity to reflect the recent changes "while acknowledging the heritage upon which we are built."

Jim Beam may be in a league with a Colonel Sanders or Ben & Jerry here in the U.S., but the name loses resonance in far-flung parts of the world. Fortunately, as Flocco pointed out, the legendary distiller's last name is pretty adaptable.

"It's a name that works because it does have a lot of flexibility inherent in it," he said, noting that it could also refer to a beam of light, a balance beam, a support beam or even the beam of a ship.

"It has the multiple entendre, but it also ties back to a 200-year-old history," Flocco said. "We didn't want to completely sever our ties with the past."

The eponymous bourbon, still the company's biggest single brand, will keep its full name, and the new corporate identity won't be appearing on a bottle anytime soon -- with the exception of commemorative liters of Jim Beam Black handed out to each of the company's 4,000-plus employees.

"The change is not as relevant to consumers as it is to our employees, distributors and retailers," he said. "We don't get any benefit from putting Beam on the back of bottle of Sauza."

Along with the new name comes a new logo, a stylized "B" outlined against a red quality seal or hallmark. The logo is designed to represent the company's flagship brand and legacy along with the craftsmanship that goes into the products.

But Flocco added that that after the logo was set, he noticed something else about it: "It could be a coaster."

Copyright © 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.