Fortune buys V&S's Beam stake for $464 million

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - U.S. spirits group Fortune Brands (FO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has bought Vin & Sprit's VSG.UL 10 percent stake in Fortune's Beam Global Spirits & Wine for 2.8 billion Swedish crowns ($464 million), the Swedish government said on Friday.

France's Pernod Ricard (PERP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) in March won a battle to buy Absolut Vodka maker V&S from the Swedish state, beating out Fortune, the producer of Jim Beam bourbon and majority owner of wine and spirits company Beam Global.

The 5.6 billion euro ($8.8 billion) Pernod deal did not include V&S's holding in Beam.

Fortune had been looking to exercise a clause allowing it to buy V&S's Beam stake, but the sides had been unable to agree on a price.

Swedish Financial Markets Minister Mats Odell said in a statement the government pocketed a total 58 billion crowns for the assets of V&S -- including the Beam holding -- which will go toward paying down debt.

"It (the sale of V&S as a whole) is a good deal ... We are very pleased with it," Odell spokeswoman Sarah Lundgren said on Friday.

Sweden is conducting its largest-ever privatization of state assets, an effort the government hopes will net it 200 billion crowns over the course of its four-year mandate.

So far, the state has sold or agreed to sell assets worth roughly 119 billion crowns.

V&S spokesman Jacob Broberg said Fortune had offered $350 million for the Beam holding while V&S wanted $1.1 billion, which would include "a few $100s (of millions)" in debt.