Group Might Bid for Allied Domecq

Allied Domecq, the liquor maker that agreed to be bought by Pernod Ricard, said Wednesday that a group including Constellation Brands Inc. and Brown-Forman Corp. may make an offer for the company.

Private equity firms Blackstone Group and Lion Capital are part of the consortium that approached Allied Domecq, Fairport, N.Y.-based Constellation said. Pernod Ricard agreed last week to buy Bristol, England-based Allied Domecq, the world’s No. 2 liquor maker, for $14 billion.

Constellation, the world’s largest wine maker with such brands as Robert Mondavi, wants to increase its offering of spirits, which are growing faster than wine and beer in the U.S. Brown-Forman, maker of Jack Daniel’s whiskey and Southern Comfort, is mulling over a sale of its Lenox Inc. business to add to its alcohol brands.

An acquisition of Allied Domecq’s liquor business would give Constellation and Brown-Forman brands including Beefeater gin and Sauza tequila and a larger share of the $14.7-billion U.S. spirits market.

Constellation said Monday that it had hired Merrill Lynch & Co. and N.M. Rothschild & Sons to help decide whether to make its own bid for Allied Domecq.

Chief Executive Richard Sands said this month that Constellation couldn’t bid for Allied Domecq alone.