Sunday, April 6, 2014

The Guardian home

Rémy Cointreau shares soar after talk of match-up with Jack Daniel's maker

US drinks company Brown-Forman reportedly holding 'tentative discussions' on takeover bid for French cognac firm
Bottles of Jack Daniel's whiskey
Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman could make a move for Rémy Cointreau after the French company issued a profit warning. Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP
 
Talk of a marriage between Jack Daniel's and Louis XIII cognac has driven shares in Rémy Cointreau up as much as 10%.

According to the Betaville blog, tentative discussions have been held between investment banking advisers to the French cognac maker and Brown-Forman, which makes the Tennessee whiskey, although the chances of a takeover by the US drinks company at the moment are judged "very slim".

Embattled Rémy Cointreau issued a profit warning in early January, which put further pressure on its shares and fuelled speculation that it could be a takeover target.

Brown-Forman may not want to get left behind after the Japanese whisky maker Suntory bought the US bourbon producer Beam for $16bn in mid-January, making it the world's third-largest distilled drinks group.
Betaville said Brown-Forman was being advised by a number of banks including Goldman Sachs. Lazard was said to be representing Rémy Cointreau and its controlling shareholders, the Hériard Dubreuil family, who speak for 60% of the shares and are well represented on the board.

It is not known how the family view a possible tie-up with Brown-Forman. In the early 1990s, they backed the merger of their Rémy Martin business with Cointreau, which was owned by the Cointreau family.

The French company is run by François Hériard Dubreuil, the chairman, who replaced Frédéric Pflanz as interim chief executive in January when he left after just three months at the helm of the cognac producer.

Rémy Cointreau blamed a slowdown in sales of luxury goods in China – where Communist party leaders are cracking down on extravagant spending by officials – for falling sales and profits.
GOVERNMENT OF HAITI, STATE UNIVERSITY OF HAITI FACULTY OF SCIENCES, AND CLINTON FOUNDATION ANNOUNCE $7.3 MILLION TO HELP REBUILD HAITI'S FACULTY OF SCIENCES

The Clinton Foundation, in collaboration with the Government of Haiti and the Faculty of Sciences (FDS) at the State University of Haiti (UEH), announced $7.3 million in funding to rebuild the main building at the Faculty of Sciences in Port-au-Prince. The funding comes from a $5.5 million from the Qatar Haiti Fund, as well as a $1.8 million from a grant with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

UEH is one of Haiti's leading higher education facilities and the nation's largest public university. The project to rebuild the University has been considered a priority by the Haitian government. Before the earthquake in 2010, UEH had 18 campuses in and around Port-au-Prince, supporting approximately 40,000 students.

"The construction and equipping of these two buildings is the result of a combined effort of the Haitian Government, the Clinton Foundation, the Qatar Haiti Fund, and the United Nations Office for Project Services," said Herisse Guirand of the Faculty of Sciences. "Students, teachers, and administrative staff sincerely thank all those who give hope that their environment of work will be improved soon."

"This project is of extreme importance to our country in the recovery of the January 12, 2010 earthquake," said Harry Adam with Unité de Construction de Logements et de Bâtiments Publics. "We need engineers to participate in the physical reconstruction of their country. Our students made sacrifices and withstand three year courses in unacceptable conditions; they deserve better."

"This project will help speed the nation’s rebuilding efforts with the engineering and development skills that students are learning at Haiti’s largest public university," said Laura Graham, Senior Advisor of Global Programs for the Clinton Foundation. "This funding will help rebuild the Faculty of Sciences main building, ensure better opportunities for education in Port-au-Prince, and strengthen the country's economic potential for generations to come."

The reconstruction of FDS will focus on creating a top quality, environmentally friendly building that will serve as an anchor for the FDS campus. The building will include classrooms, lab space and lecture halls and will benefit FDS students as well as the faculty and staff.

The Faculty of Sciences campus is located in downtown Port-au-Prince and provides degrees in engineering, architecture, civil engineering and electromechanical, as well as chemistry and topography. The FDS is the oldest science and engineering school in Haiti, and one of the oldest in the Caribbean. Many of the students studying at the FDS are from disadvantaged backgrounds and hope to build better lives for themselves through a strong educational foundation. FDS alumni are currently serving in leadership positions in government, utilities, and the private sector.

About the Clinton Foundation
The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation convenes businesses, governments, NGOs, and individuals to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for women and girls, reduce childhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address the effects of climate change.  Because of our work, 20,000 American schools are providing kids with healthy food choices in an effort to eradicate childhood obesity; 21,000 farmers in Malawi have improved their incomes by more than 500 percent; 248 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions are being reduced in cities worldwide; more than 5,000 people have been trained in marketable job skills in Colombia; 8.2 million people have access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS medications; $200 million in strategic investments have been made, impacting the health of 75 million people in the U.S.; and members of the Clinton Global Initiative have made nearly 2,800 Commitments to Action to improve more than 430 million lives around the world. Learn more at http://www.clintonfoundation.org, on Facebook, and on Twitter @ClintonFdn

About the Clinton Foundation Haiti Fund
The Clinton Foundation has been actively engaged in Haiti since 2009, focusing on economic diversification, private sector investment and job creation in order to create long-term, sustainable economic development. In 2013 the Haiti team provided approximately $1 million in grants and investments to support Haitian entrepreneurs, small businesses, and farming cooperatives, helped to facilitate more than $30 million in foreign direct investment into Haiti, and continued to provide capacity building and access to markets for Haitian businesses and the Haitian Center for Investment Facilitation. The full cycle investing model that launched in late 2012 has continued to develop, and companies in the agricultural, artisan and environmental sectors, such as Heineken, Caribbean Craft, and SRS Recycling, are all benefiting and demonstrating positive results. In 2013, the Haiti team expanded its work at the nexus of agriculture, energy and the environment with new solar, recycling, tree planting, and alternative energy projects.

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