Stockholm, May 15 - Vin & Sprit and Fortune Brands are far from agreeing a price for the former's stake in bourbon maker Jim Beam, V&S said on Thursday, which Swedish media said could delay Pernod Ricard's acquisition of V&S.
French spirits firm Pernod Ricard in March beat Fortune in an auction for Swedish state-owned Absolut vodka maker V&S with an $8.9 billion bid.
Fortune had been seen by analysts as favourite because of existing ties between the two companies.
Now the thwarted U.S. suitor, owner of 90 percent of Jim Beam bourbon maker Beam Global, plans to exercise a right to buy back the remaining 10 percent that V&S has held since 2001. But the firms have been unable to agree on a price.
V&S spokesman Jacob Broberg said Fortune had offered $350 million for the stake while V&S wanted $1.1 billion, which would include "a few $100s (of millions)" in debt.
"We paid $375 million when we bought it and we have (invested) $153 million in it. And the firm is significantly bigger now," Broberg said.
Fortune on Monday sued for an injunction to stop V&S from going ahead with plans to transfer the Jim Beam stake to the Swedish state after the Pernod deal, which excludes the holding.
Swedish Financial Markets Minister Mats Odell, in charge of the V&S sale, said this week he sees the lawsuit as part of a price negotiation and did not expect it to delay the merger.
"We have yet not landed on a price. I would like to point out the dynamics that occur in a price negotiation when there is only one buyer," he told reporters on Wednesday.
Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet said on Thursday the dispute risked delaying the Pernod-V&S merger deal since V&S must dispose of the Beam shares by July when the merger is scheduled to close.
Citing unidentified sources, the paper said the Swedish government as well as V&S were unsure about the consequences of the lawsuit.
Pierre Pringuet, Pernod Managing Director, said the dispute should not affect the purchase of V&S. "It has been very clear from the beginning that these shares were excluded from our own transaction," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference.
"There is no connection with Pernod Ricard or the transaction and I see no reason why it should have an impact on the process," Pringuet said.
Svenska Dagbladet cited the sources as saying Odell had found out only on Wednesday about Fortune's lawsuit, which was filed in district courts in Stockholm and Manhattan.