Pernod poised to uncork Allied bid

PERNOD Ricard will today submit its £7.4bn takeover offer for British drinks giant Allied Domecq, according to reports in the French Press today.

The French company, whose brands include Jacob's Creek wine and Chivas Regal whisky, is confident of winning board approval from Allied, whose brands include Malibu and Courvoisier.

According to La Tribune, the deal priced at about 670p a share will be declared to the stock market tomorrow, along with Allied's interim results.

Pernod's offer will be made jointly with American conglomerate Fortune Brands, whose drinks division includes Jim Beam bourbon. Fortune is financing about £2.5bn of the deal, which will be funded 80% in cash with the remainder in Pernod Ricard shares.

Most Allied investors would prefer to take cash rather than the French company's shares. The takeover is expected to be structured through a scheme of arrangement.

If such a deal were put to shareholders tomorrow, it would confound analysts at Merrill Lynch, who suggested that no deal would be completed until much later this year. Allied today said it had yet to receive a proposal.