Pernod aims to sell Plymouth, Fris brands

By Martinne Geller

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pernod Ricard SA (PERP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), the French spirits company buying Absolut vodka maker Vin & Sprit VSG.UL, said on Wednesday it plans to sell the Plymouth Gin and Fris Vodka brands it won as part of the deal.

Speaking in New York two days after Pernod said it would be the new owner of the Swedish state-owned spirits company, Emmanuel Babeau, Pernod's deputy managing director in charge of finance, said the company aims to put the high-end Plymouth Gin up for sale within 6 months of the deal closing, which Pernod expects this summer.

Babeau declined to discuss possible price tags.

Pernod, which agreed to pay 5.63 billion euros ($8.8 billion) for V&S, said it plans to keep the company's Cruzan rum brand.

While Pernod already owns the Beefeater and Seagram's brands of gin -- and now Absolut vodka -- its only rum is Malibu, the classic version of which is coconut-flavored.

There may also be some regional brands that Pernod may seek to unload, but "the idea is really to keep V&S as it is," Babeau said.

Absolut, which sold 10.7 million 12-bottle cases last year, accounts for the lion's share of V&S sales, which were 10.3 billion Swedish crowns ($1.72 billion) last year.

The company, which is part of a large privatization program of the Swedish government, also makes traditional Northern European spirits such as aquavit and bitters, which are popular in the Scandinavian region.