• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Port Info

• Ships in Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• The Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Boby Kurian

Bangalore , July 8

THE $7-billion Fortune Brands may establish a direct presence for its wine and spirits business in the country following its acquisition of Teacher's Scotch Whisky as part of the recent takeover of Allied Domecq Plc with French drinks giant Pernod Ricard.

While splitting Allied Domecq's spirits and wine assets, Fortune Brands bagged Teacher's brand, which claims nearly 40 per cent share of the locally bottled Scotch whisky consumption in the country.

The Illinois-based Fortune Brands, a global consumer products behemoth, is already a major wine and spirits powerhouse with Jim Bean Bourbon as its core brand. By taking part in carving up Allied Domecq, it will more than double its spirits and wine revenue pegged at $1.2 billion in 2004 through addition of premium brands, such as Canadian Club Whisky, Courvoisier Cognac, Sauza Tequila and Marker's Mark Bourbon, besides Teacher's.

Informed sources said Fortune Brands was likely to set up direct presence in the country to take forward Teacher's, which is arguably the biggest brand in the standard scotch whisky segment in the country. The alternative before Fortune Brands will be to handover the marketing and distribution rights of the brand to domestic spirits heavyweights, such as UB and Radico Khaitan. But sources said the transnational giant was unlikely to opt for third party distribution, as India was the biggest market for Teacher's outside the UK, and Fortune was keen on expanding its footprint in critical emerging markets.

It must be mentioned that Fortune Brand's international distribution joint venture, Maxxium, does not operate in India even though its trading interests are represented by Whyte & Mackay (formerly Kyndal) in the domestic market. However, Whyte & Mackay's Indian arm is only a trading subsidiary and it has no manufacturing footprint in the country.

Moreover, Fortune Brands's direct foray into India could draw upon Allied Domecq's Indian operations, for which Teacher's was the mainstay.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Fortune Brands may enter India

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line