Brown-Forman Completes Sale of Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards
2024年5月1日 - 7:19PM
ビジネスワイヤ(英語)
Brown-Forman (NYSE: BFA, BFB) announced today that it completed
the sale of Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards and related brand trademarks to
The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. (NYSE: NAPA), a premier wine group, on
April 30, 2024. In November 2023, Brown-Forman disclosed it had
reached an agreement to sell the brand in exchange for an ownership
percentage of approximately 21.5% in The Duckhorn Portfolio and $50
million USD.
As part of the agreement, The Duckhorn Portfolio has named two
Brown-Forman executives to its Board of Directors, Marshall Farrer,
Chief Strategic Growth Officer, and Tim Nall, Chief Global Supply
Chain and Technology Officer.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Sonoma-Cutrer brand
trademarks, facilities, and six vineyards in two appellations will
join The Duckhorn Portfolio’s luxury wine brands.
About Brown-Forman
For more than 150 years, Brown-Forman Corporation has enriched
the experience of life by responsibly building fine quality
beverage alcohol brands, including Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey,
Jack Daniel's Ready-to-Drinks, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, Jack
Daniel's Tennessee Fire, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple, Gentleman
Jack, Jack Daniel's Single Barrel, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester,
Coopers’ Craft, The GlenDronach, Benriach, Glenglassaugh, Slane,
Herradura, el Jimador, New Mix, Korbel, Chambord, Fords Gin, Gin
Mare, and Diplomático Rum. Brown-Forman’s brands are supported by
approximately 5,600 employees globally and sold in more than 170
countries worldwide. For more information about the company, please
visit brown-forman.com.
Important Information on Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains statements, estimates, and
projections that are “forward-looking statements” as defined under
U.S. federal securities laws, including statements regarding the
Company’s anticipated divestiture of Sonoma Cutrer and investment
in The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. Words such as “aim,” “anticipate,”
“aspire,” “believe,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “envision,”
“estimate,” “expect,” “expectation,” “intend,” “may,” “might,”
“plan,” “potential,” “project,” “pursue,” “see,” “seek,” “should,”
“will,” “would,” and similar words indicate forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date we make them. Except as
required by law, we do not intend to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events, or otherwise. By their nature, forward-looking
statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors (many
beyond our control) that could cause our actual results to differ
materially from our historical experience or from our current
expectations or projections. These risks and uncertainties include,
but are not limited to:
- Our substantial dependence upon the continued growth of the
Jack Daniel's family of brands
- Substantial competition from new entrants, consolidations by
competitors and retailers, and other competitive activities, such
as pricing actions (including price reductions, promotions,
discounting, couponing, or free goods), marketing, category
expansion, product introductions, or entry or expansion in our
geographic markets or distribution networks
- Route-to-consumer changes that affect the timing of our sales,
temporarily disrupt the marketing or sale of our products, or
result in higher fixed costs
- Disruption of our distribution network or inventory
fluctuations in our products by distributors, wholesalers, or
retailers
- Changes in consumer preferences, consumption, or purchase
patterns – particularly away from larger producers in favor of
small distilleries or local producers, or away from brown spirits,
our premium products, or spirits generally, and our ability to
anticipate or react to them; further legalization of marijuana;
bar, restaurant, travel, or other on-premise declines; shifts in
demographic or health and wellness trends; or unfavorable consumer
reaction to new products, line extensions, package changes, product
reformulations, or other product innovation
- Production facility, aging warehouse, or supply chain
disruption
- Imprecision in supply/demand forecasting
- Higher costs, lower quality, or unavailability of energy,
water, raw materials, product ingredients, or labor
- Risks associated with acquisitions, dispositions, business
partnerships, or investments – such as acquisition integration,
termination difficulties or costs, or impairment in recorded
value
- Impact of health epidemics and pandemics, and the risk of the
resulting negative economic impacts and related governmental
actions
- Unfavorable global or regional economic conditions and related
economic slowdowns or recessions, low consumer confidence, high
unemployment, weak credit or capital markets, budget deficits,
burdensome government debt, austerity measures, higher interest
rates, higher taxes, political instability, higher inflation,
deflation, lower returns on pension assets, or lower discount rates
for pension obligations
- Product recalls or other product liability claims, product
tampering, contamination, or quality issues
- Negative publicity related to our company, products, brands,
marketing, executive leadership, employees, Board of Directors,
family stockholders, operations, business performance, or
prospects
- Failure to attract or retain key executive or employee
talent
- Risks associated with being a U.S.-based company with a global
business, including commercial, political, and financial risks;
local labor policies and conditions; protectionist trade policies,
or economic or trade sanctions, including additional retaliatory
tariffs on American whiskeys and the effectiveness of our actions
to mitigate the negative impact on our margins, sales, and
distributors; compliance with local trade practices and other
regulations; terrorism, kidnapping, extortion, or other types of
violence; and health pandemics
- Failure to comply with anti-corruption laws, trade sanctions
and restrictions, or similar laws or regulations
- Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly a
stronger U.S. dollar
- Changes in laws, regulatory measures, or governmental policies,
especially those affecting production, importation, marketing,
labeling, pricing, distribution, sale, or consumption of our
beverage alcohol products
- Tax rate changes (including excise, corporate, sales or
value-added taxes, property taxes, payroll taxes, import and export
duties, and tariffs) or changes in related reserves, changes in tax
rules or accounting standards, and the unpredictability and
suddenness with which they can occur
- Decline in the social acceptability of beverage alcohol in
significant markets
- Significant additional labeling or warning requirements or
limitations on availability of our beverage alcohol products
- Counterfeiting and inadequate protection of our intellectual
property rights
- Significant legal disputes and proceedings, or government
investigations
- Cyber breach or failure or corruption of our key information
technology systems or those of our suppliers, customers, or direct
and indirect business partners, or failure to comply with personal
data protection laws
- Our status as a family “controlled company” under New York
Stock Exchange rules, and our dual-class share structure
For further information on these and other risks, please refer
to our public filings, including the “Risk Factors” section of our
annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240430325408/en/
Elizabeth Conway Director Corporate Communications
elizabeth_conway@b-f.com Sue Perram VP, Director Investor Relations
sue_perram@b-f.com