Pernod Ricard CEO Alexandre Ricard has refuted rumours the company is in renewed merger talks with Brown-Forman.

Brown-Forman announced in April that it had terminated discussions with Pernod Ricard in regard a potential business combination, as the companies were unable to reach mutually agreeable terms.

“We agreed to disagree,” CEO Alexandre Ricard told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. He said the two companies are “now focusing on our respective value-creation strategies”.

Brown-Forman subsequently turned down a $15 billion takeover offer from Sazerac in May and a second unsolicited proposal in July.

Ricard’s statement follows a report by the Wall Street Journal that it has viewed a letter from two family heirs—W.L. Lyons Brown III and his brother Stuart R. Brown—accusing the Brown Forman board and other family members of keeping them in the dark about merger discussions with Pernod Ricard and Sazerac.

The brothers’ father—W.L. Lyons “Lee” Brown Jr—ran Brown-Forman during the 1970s and was chairman of its board in the 1980s.

The brothers expressed frustration that the deal with Pernod Ricard had not proceeded and that subsequent offers from Sazerac were rejected.

“Sazerac is an American company headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky—a natural cultural and operational fit,” their letter said.

“If the Pernod Ricard transaction was Plan A, what is Plan B? The Company is in crisis.” 

For the financial year ending 30 April 2026, Brown-Forman reported net sales decreased 1% to $3.9 billion (flat on an organic basis) compared to the same prior-year period. Reported operating income decreased 10% to $1 billion (-2% on an organic basis) and diluted earnings per share decreased 17% to $1.53.

“The numbers are stark and undeniable,” said the brothers’ letter. “Brown-Forman’s stock price has fallen from the mid-$70s per share to the mid-$20s per share over the past three years, eliminating billions of dollars of generational wealth for the Brown family and all other shareholders.

“The board is rewarding failure, and doing so lavishly and publicly.”