Pernod Ricard to sell iconic Imperial Blue brand to Tilaknagar Industries for ₹4,150 crore

Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) manufacturer Tilaknagar Industries said on Wednesday that it has agreed with Pernod Ricard India Limited to acquire the Imperial Blue business division for ₹4,150 crore to expedite its foray into whiskeys, in line with its ambitions to become a pan-India IMFL manufacturer.

The deal price also includes a deferred payment of ₹282 crore, which will be paid four years after the transaction is closed. According to the deal terms, Tilaknagar Industries will acquire two owned units and services from co-manufacturing bottlers across India from the French spirits maker.

Pernod Ricard said the sale enables it to double down on its efforts to increase sales of its portfolio of premium liquor—which includes Absolut vodka, Ballantine’s, Chivas Regal, and The Glenlivet scotch whiskies—in India, its second-largest market. It added that the deal, upon fruition, is expected to be immediately and meaningfully accretive to Pernod Ricard India’s operating margin and net sales growth rate.

Tilaknagar Industries said that the transaction, subject to approval from the Competition Commission of India, is anticipated to close within six months of signing the agreement. The IMFL manufacturer will raise a mix of debt and equity to finance the transaction.

Imperial Blue was launched in India by Seagram in 1997. In 2001, Seagram’s global business was jointly acquired by Pernod Ricard and Diageo, with the former acquiring Seagram’s India operations in 2002, when it was relaunched in India with the iconic advertising slogan, “Men will be Men”. Today, Imperial Blue is the third largest whisky brand in India by volume, with reported revenue of ₹3,067 crore for the year ended March 2025.

Tilaknagar Industries reported a more-than-double rise in net profit to ₹77.35 crore in the fourth quarter, compared to ₹31.45 crore in the year-ago period. Sales rose 13.11% to ₹405.81 crore in the fourth quarter from the year-ago period. Its volume grew by 20.1% year-on-year, mainly driven by strong growth in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.