Here we go again.
A month or so after Pernod Ricard and Brown-Forman terminated discussions over their mooted “merger of equals”, we have another “will they, won’t they?” M&A saga on our hands
The proposed acquisition of a majority stake in Maison Pommery & Associés by Henkell Freixenet may be considerably smaller in terms of the sums involved but, in the world of sparkling wine, it’s a very big deal indeed. Henkell Freixenet – part of the family-owned Oetker Collection KG – has built a dominant position in the world of fizz, amassing €1.25bn ($1.45bn) in revenues last year thanks to a roster of brands that includes a couple of world leaders: Freixenet, the planet’s biggest sparkling wine brand, and Mionetto, the leading international Prosecco. The company’s share of the global sparkling wine market (excluding Champagne, Lambrusco and the Russian market) stood at just under 10% (volume and value) in 2024.
In an industry as fragmented as wine, those are impressive numbers. The range of segments covered by the business is pretty comprehensive, spanning Cava, Prosecco, Crémant and Sekt, plus (through 2022 acquisition Bolney Wine Estate) English sparkling. If the company has a weakness, it lies in the fact that it is seriously underweight in the most lucrative sparkling wine category of them all: Champagne.