They mean it, absolutely

In September, top executives of Fortune Brands visited Stockholm to talk to a ‘broad constituency’ of interested parties as Sweden draws closer to a planned sale of state-owned Absolut vodka maker Vin & Sprit.

However, Fortune Brands’ Chief Executive Norman Wesley declined to say if executives had met officials handling the V&S sale, which analysts say could fetch about USD 6 billion.

V&S is the crown jewel in Sweden’s largest-ever push to privatise state assets -- a process Financial Markets Minister Mats Odell said was entering a ‘transaction phase’. Still, the government has not yet detailed how or when it will sell the spirits maker or the other assets on the block.

The list of potential V&S buyers includes France’s Pernod Ricard, UK-based Diageo and privately held Bacardi, but Fortune Brands is the only one that does not already have a big vodka brand in its portfolio.

Wesley believes that this could mean fewer antitrust hurdles for a union between the Swedish spirits maker and Fortune Brands. Also a Fortune Brands-V&S merger would be a ‘natural extension’ of their current relationship, which includes distribution deals for Absolut.

These agreements, which carry hefty fees for premature termination, could serve as an effective poison pill by deterring other suitors.

Earlier this year, French wine and spirits group Remy Cointreau took a EUR 241 million provision to quit Maxxium, the distribution pact between it, Fortune Brands, V&S and Scotland’s Edrington Group.

Fortune Brands and V&S are also intertwined through Future Brands, which distributes Absolut in the United States.

Wesley declined to comment on the scale of the fees V&S would have to pay if it left Maxxium and Future Brands.