Tilaknagar Industries acquires Imperial Blue from Pernod Ricard
has signed an agreement to acquire the
Imperial Blue whisky
brand in India from France's
Pernod Ricard
for about Rs4150 crore in an all-cash deal, entering the whiskey segment which accounts for about two-thirds of India's spirits market.
Tilaknagar, which sells Mansion House brandy, said the deal includes Rs282 crore which will be paid in four years after completion of the transaction. It also said it will raise upto Rs6500 crore, including upto Rs2,500 crores in equity or equity linked securities and the remaining in debt securities in one or more tranches.
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Pernod said the transaction to part with India's third biggest whiskey brand is due to its continuous assessment of its strategic opportunities, and the sale will enable the business to fully tap into premiumization trends and support sustained, profitable growth.
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'By exiting the admix value segment, this disposal will allow Pernod Ricard India to unlock further profitable growth and sharpen its focus on premiumization and innovation. It will also enable the company to allocate resources more effectively toward high-growth brands," said Jean Touboul, CEO of Pernod Ricard India.
The proposed sale by the world's second biggest distiller is part of a broader global restructuring exercise initiated by Pernod Ricard—owner of best-selling brands like Absolut vodka and Jameson whisky—since last year. This includes a portfolio reshuffle, job cuts, and splitting its global brands into two blocks. Imperial Blue's sales have lagged in recent years as many Indian consumers moved to upgrade to premium brands over mass or prestige offerings.
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"With the acquisition, the company will become one of the leading players in brandy and whiskey, the two largest IMFL categories. Imperial Blue shall serve as a base for the company's premium portfolio strategy. This acquisition would also strengthen the distribution network of the company," said Tilaknagar in a statement.
Imperial Blue operates in the 78-million-case per year deluxe whisky category, a bridge between the mass and premium segments. It sold 22.2 million cases in 2024, a meagre 0.5% from the year before with revenues of Rs3067 crore. A blend of Indian grain spirits and imported Scotch malts, the brand was launched in India in 1997 by Seagram, which was acquired by Pernod in 2002.
With a market share of 8.6%, Imperial Blue trails McDowell's and Royal Stag in 2024, as per latest IWSR report.
For Pernod, it accounts for one-third of its total whisky sales by volume globally even though sales have been declining steadily over the past few years, falling 4% between 2019 and 2024. With annual sales of 260 million cases in 2024, India is the largest whisky market in the world by volume.
"This transaction represents a win-win for all stakeholders involved, both at the global and local level. It fuels our ambition to succeed even further in one of our top markets. This will further streamline our operations as we continue to invest in India's outstanding growth," said Alexandre Ricard, Chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard.
The company's Indian business also outpaced that of China to be the parent's second-largest market globally after the US.
Founded in 1933 as Maharashtra Sugar Mills, Amit Dahanukar-led Tilaknagar is among India's ten largest distillers. Earlier this week, the company was named in a chargesheet filed by the Andhra Pradesh police in an ongoing inquiry into alleged malpractices and kickbacks of estimated Rs 218 crore.
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