Spirits heavyweight Pernod Ricard has agreed to offload a clutch of its Nordic brands to Royal Unibrew-owned Hartwall, including Finnish liqueur Minttu.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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Other brands in the transaction include another Finnish liqueur, Lapponia, Swedish punch brand Cederlunds Torr, unflavoured spirit Tapio and Marinella fruit wine.
Most of the portfolio was bought by Pernod together with Absolut with its acquisition of Vin & Sprit in 2008.
Hartwall will take control of the brands and production assets following the transaction. According to the Pommac soft drink maker, all the brands are produced in a single “carbon-neutral” site in Turku, Finland.
Employees will continue to work at the Turku site under Hartwall’s lead.
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By GlobalDataPernod said the move to sell the Nordic brands would allow it to home in on “its portfolio of premium international spirits and Champagne brands that drive the growth of its business”.
It added the decision was part of the company’s ongoing “assessment of its strategic opportunities and active portfolio management”.
The deal is expected to be complete by the end of June 2025, upon receiving approval from local competition authorities.
Hartwall CEO Kalle Järvinen said: “Hartwall has strengthened its position in the wine and spirits market in recent years and is currently Finland’s largest wine importer.
“Having iconic beverage brands in Hartwall’s selection further strengthens our ability to serve our customers as a comprehensive beverage house”.
Tomi Korte, production and supply chain manager at Hartwall, added: “It’s really great that we can continue domestic production in Turku.
“The factory in Turku, which runs on renewable energy, offers us flexibility in our production, enabling, for example, smaller product batches and different packaging solutions.”
Headquartered in Helsinki, Hartwall produces a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, including Jaffa soft drinks, Novelle flavoured waters and some local craft beer brands.
It is also manages a wine import business and distributes brands in Finland for Heineken and Pepsi Co, among other companies.
The move follows on from the release of Pernod’s first-quarter results today (17 October).
In the three months to September, the Martell Cognac owner saw total net sales drop slightly below consensus expectations, declining 5.9% organically and 8.5% on a reported basis, to €2.78bn ($3bn).
Speaking to analysts, CFO Hélène de Tissot said the group was expecting “a more significant full-year decline than last year” in China, “due to the very weak consumer demand.”
