Week in Review: Brown-Forman rejects Sazerac, RNDC files Chapter 11, and eight results in five days

M&A & Portfolio

Campari sold four brands in a single week – Bisquit & Dubouché, Cabo Wabo, Trois Rivières, and Maison La Mauny Cobblestone Brands acquired Bisquit & Dubouché Cognac and Cabo Wabo Tequila (deal signed 24 July); a French buyer entered exclusive negotiations for the Bellonnie rhum agricole portfolio. Combined proceeds: approximately €30 million – against €82 million in book write-downs taken in H1 2026. The disposal programme confirms that portfolio concentration, not portfolio breadth, is Campari’s current commercial strategy.
Brown-Forman rejected an unsolicited takeover approach from Sazerac Brown-Forman’s board issued a statement on 26 July confirming it had received and rejected the approach, describing it as not in the best interests of shareholders. Sazerac is the private US spirits company behind Buffalo Trace, Fireball, and a portfolio spanning every price tier of American whiskey. The approach – reported at approximately $15 billion – confirms M&A appetite at the top of the American whiskey market even as the category faces its broadest simultaneous correction.
Moët Hennessy handed back full ownership of SirDavis to Beyoncé SirDavis – an American whisky co-venture between Moët Hennessy (LVMH) and Knowles-Carter – was returned to sole ownership on 28 July. The brand launched in 2024 and is produced at Glenmorangie’s distillery in Scotland. The exit is the first major Moët Hennessy portfolio disposal of 2026, arriving one day after LVMH confirmed its Wines & Spirits division returned to positive growth in H1.
Louis Roederer acquired Domaine Pierre Damoy in Burgundy Louis Roederer – the independent Champagne house behind Cristal, and owner of Château Pichon Baron and Domaine Ott – acquired Gevrey-Chambertin producer Domaine Pierre Damoy on 28 July. The estate holds 11 hectares of Grand Cru vines including holdings in Chambertin and Chambertin Clos de Bèze. Roederer’s first move into Burgundy.
Damm UK took a 5% stake in Dalston’s Soda Co Damm UK – the UK arm of Spanish brewer Damm, whose brands include Estrella Damm – agreed a 5% equity stake in Dalston’s Soda Co on 29 July. The investment is Damm UK’s third significant move beyond beer in the current cycle, following its acquisition of Old Speckled Hen and a brewery site in Bedford.

Financial Results

AB InBev Q2 2026: +5.6% organic revenue, Beyond Beer +44%, China –9.7% AB InBev reported Q2 2026 results on 30 July, with beer volumes +1.1%, Cutwater RTD growing triple digits, and the company acquiring BeatBox (85% stake, ~$757m) in H1. China volumes fell 9.7%, underperforming a soft market, with APAC EBITDA margins contracting 269 basis points.
Campari H1 2026: +2.7% organic, EBIT-adjusted margin +130bps, reported profits down 37.7% Campari’s underlying performance improved in H1, with Aperol +3.3%, Espolòn +8.2%, and Courvoisier +6.3%. The reported profit decline to €129 million reflects €82 million in non-cash write-downs on brands marked for disposal – not an operational decline.
Rémy Cointreau Q1 FY2026-27: first organic growth in two years, +1.3% Cognac grew +7.7% organically (volume +15.9%) while Liqueurs & Spirits fell –6.6%. LVMH’s Wines & Spirits confirmed +5% organic the same week – two of the three largest cognac producers confirming recovery in the same seven days.
MGP Ingredients Q2 2026: brown goods –59% (fifth consecutive quarter), Penelope Bourbon +13% MGP’s bulk whiskey business is running at its fifth consecutive quarter of 50%-plus decline. The branded business grew 3% excluding private label. The divergence between the bulk and branded sides of the same company is the most specific available data point on the state of the US whiskey inventory correction.
Radico Khaitan Q1 FY2027: highest-ever quarterly profit, Prestige & Above now 53% of volume India’s largest listed spirits producer reported EBITDA +50.9% to a record ₹348.1 crore. The milestone that matters: Prestige & Above brands are now the majority of total IMFL volume – the first time in the company’s history that premium has exceeded mass-market.
Chapel Down H1 2026: net sales +19% to £9.4m, international revenue +66% Chapel Down confirmed a 66% increase in international revenue, led by the US, in H1 2026. English sparkling wine growing double digits in a year when Australian exports hit a 22-year low is a provenance story, not a category story.
Becle Q2 2026: net sales –5.8% constant currency (–13.9% reported) Jose Cuervo’s parent company reported US and Canada shipments down 8.7% as its distributor realignment across 18 markets continued. Within the portfolio: Gran Coramino +105% in control states year-to-date, Centenario +10%, Cuervo Especial –2.6%. The bifurcation between the ultra-premium and mainstream tier is visible at the brand level within a single portfolio.

Distribution & Market Access

RNDC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 26 July Republic National Distributing Company – one of the largest US wine and spirits distributors – entered Chapter 11, with buyers being sought for remaining business units. Rémy Cointreau confirmed RNDC accounts for approximately 5–8% of its estimated annual turnover. MGP Ingredients recorded a $2.148 million credit loss provision related to an unnamed customer bankruptcy in Q2 2026. Every brand with material RNDC-routed volume is now managing a court process rather than a commercial relationship.
Majestic Wine committed £4 million to store expansion, opening its first new store in Trowbridge Majestic – owned by Fortress Investment Group – announced at least four new UK store openings in 2026/27, beginning with a 4,145 sq ft store in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. The investment runs counter to the UK on-trade closure rate, but the Majestic model is experiential off-trade rather than hospitality – the structural risks are different.

People & Strategy

Rémy Cointreau appointed Grégory Leymarie as Global Managing Director, Emerging Markets Leymarie spent 12 years at Pernod Ricard, including four years as CEO of Pernod Ricard Africa. The newly created role is the first senior hire to operationalise RC Forward’s emerging markets ambition – one of the plan’s three named strategic priorities.
MGP Ingredients appointed four new board and leadership figures, including David Daigle (ex-Sazerac CCO) and Alejandro Flores (ex-Constellation Brands CFO) The appointments were confirmed 28 July, the day before Q2 results. Daigle brings Sazerac’s commercial playbook; Flores brings Constellation Brands’ capital allocation discipline from the period of its wine portfolio rationalisation. Together the appointments describe the commercial direction MGP’s board believes the company needs to travel.

Launches Worth Noting

Diageo · Tequila Don Julio Última Reserva Extra Añejo launched in the UK Don Julio – a Diageo brand – brought its Última Reserva expression to the UK market last week. The extra añejo is finished in Scotch whisky casks and positioned at the ultra-premium tier. US ultra-premium tequila is the one tier growing while super-premium contracts sharply.
Bacardi · Liqueur St-Germain UK sales up significantly as Hugo Spritz demand grows St-Germain – a Bacardi brand – confirmed strong UK sales growth last week, attributed to the Hugo Spritz occasion (St-Germain, prosecco, soda, mint, lime). UK Google searches for Hugo Spritz overtook Aperol Spritz in summer 2026. The aperitivo occasion continues to expand beyond its traditional Italian foothold.
Heineken · No-Alcohol Heineken 0.0 Ultimate US campaign launched Heineken launched its Heineken 0.0 Ultimate (zero alcohol, zero calories, zero sugar) US marketing campaign last week. Heineken 0.0 has delivered 24 consecutive quarters of US growth and holds approximately 18% share of the global no-alcohol beer category.
Mahou San Miguel · Low-ABV Mahou San Miguel launched a low-ABV San Miguel expression Mahou San Miguel – Spain’s largest brewer, independent of Heineken and AB InBev – launched a low-ABV San Miguel last week, adding to a trend that saw Carling (Molson Coors) cut its ABV from 4% to 3.4% the same week to access the lower UK duty bracket. Lower ABV is becoming a structural category decision, not a niche positioning.

On the Radar

Bordeaux wildfires: 42,000 hectares burned in Gironde Fires in the pine forests west of Bordeaux continued through the week. Vineyards are not yet directly aflame but grapes at veraison – the onset of ripening – are at maximum smoke taint susceptibility. The commercial risk is vintage perception as much as direct damage.
Australian wine exports fell to a 22-year low Wine Australia confirmed exports of 598 million litres in the year to June 2026 – down 6% and below 600 million litres for the first time since 2004. Canada grew 24% as US wines were removed from provincial shelves. Asia ex-China grew 19%.
Tsingtao Brewery signed a long-term Irish whiskey supply and technical cooperation agreement with Great Northern Distillery Great Northern Distillery – founded in Dundalk in 2014 by John Teeling, Jim Finn, and David Hynes – will supply Tsingtao with whiskeys from 3 to 21 years old and provide technical support for Tsingtao’s own domestic whiskey distillery. A Chinese brewer with national distribution building Irish whiskey capability simultaneously is the commercially significant part.
Diageo Capital Markets Day confirmed for 6 August – price resets on 15–16% of portfolio signalled CEO Dave Lewis has indicated price resets on approximately 15–16% of Diageo’s portfolio will be addressed at the 6 August full-year results and CMD. The “Marlboro Friday” comparison circulating in the trade frames the risk: once a premium spirit reprices, the consumer reference point may not return to the prior level. August 6 is the most commercially consequential single event in the drinks industry this year.

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