CORRECTED-Pernod says would probably sell Plymouth, Fris brands

(In April 2 item, changes to "would probably sell" from "aims to sell" in headline and "planned to sell" in story)

NEW YORK, April 2 (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 would probably 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 would probably put Plymouth Gin up for sale within 6 months of the closing of the deal.

Babeau also said Pernod would keep the Cruzan rum brand.

Pernod's 5.63 billion euro ($8.9 billion) bid trumped other offers, which sources said were from Fortune Brands Inc (FO.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Bacardi Ltd and Swedish private equity group EQT with investment firm Investor AB (INVEb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research).

A joint venture between V&S and U.S. rival Fortune Brands, which industry watchers expect Pernod to dissolve, will continue to distribute Absolut in the United States through 2012, Babeau said.

Absolut is the world's fourth-largest international spirit brand behind Diageo Plc's (DGE.L: Quote, Profile, Research) Smirnoff vodka, Bacardi rum and Diageo's Johnnie Walker scotch. (Reporting by Martinne Geller and Christopher Kaufman, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)