Brown-Forman Corp., the maker of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, said it would sell its liqueur brands, Southern Comfort and Tuaca, to alcohol maker Sazerac for $543.5 million.
Brown-Forman said the sale would contribute about $475 million to its fiscal 2016 operating income.
Reuters reported in September, citing sources, that the company had hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to explore a sale of some brands as it wanted to focus on its core whiskey business.
Sazerac in October 2013 purchased the liquor bottling plant in Lewiston from Jim Beam maker, Beam Inc., for an undisclosed price.
Brown-Forman Chief Executive Paul Varga said Thursday the decision to sell these brands reflected the company’s “evolving portfolio strategy.”
The Louisville, Kentucky-based company acquired Southern Comfort in 1979 and Tuaca in 2002.
Brown-Forman shares were unchanged at $91.51 in premarket trading.
Goldman Sachs and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP advised Brown-Forman, while Wells Fargo Securities is Metairie, Louisiana-based Sazerac’s financial adviser.