Corporate boilermaker

24 May 2017 By Rob Cox Follow @rob1cox

At first blush, Constellation Brands, with roots in an upstate New York vineyard, and Brown-Forman, maker of Confederate tipple Jack Daniel’s, seem to have little in common. But a heritage of family control, maintained via dual-class shares, makes a $56 bln union look doable.

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Constellation Brands, maker of Corona and Modelo beers, has offered to buy Jack Daniel's owner Brown-Forman, CNBC reported on May 23, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Brown-Forman is not interested in selling, but has informed the board of Constellation Brands' interest, the report said, citing sources.

Brown-Forman’s A shares fell 5.5 percent to $54.31, giving it a market value of about $21 billion. Constellation slipped 1.8 percent to $180.86.

The Brown family, fifth-generation owners of Brown-Forman, control a majority of voting shares and have historically indicated that they do not want to sell the company, according to the report.

Brown-Forman declined to comment, while Constellation Brands said it was company policy to not comment on rumors or speculation regarding any transaction.

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