Southern Comfort, Tuaca brands get new owner

Southern Comfort’s parent company said on Thursday that it would sell the iconic brand to a rival liquor company as part of a $543.5 million deal.

Brown-Forman Corp said its Southern Comfort and Tuaca brands would be sold to Louisiana-based Sazerac Co. Tuaca is a relatively small premium liqueur brand.

Sazerac president and chief executive officer Mark Brown said the family-owned, privately held company was excited to acquire the two brands and looked forward to “years of successful brand building.’’ The sale is expected to close by March 1. Brown-Forman CEO Paul Varga said the sale reflected the Louisville, Kentuckybased company’s evolving portfolio strategy and its focus on top-priority brands. Brown-Forman’s dominant brand is Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey.

As for Southern Comfort and Tuaca, he said: “Both brands played important roles in the Brown-Forman success story, and we will have fond memories of the enjoyment they brought to consumers, our partners and to Brown-Forman.’’

Brown-Forman acquired Southern Comfort in 1979, but the brand has struggled in recent years. The company launched marketing campaigns in recent years to try to reinvigorate the brand.

Brown-Forman said last month that net sales for the Southern Comfort brand had dropped by 7% in the first half of the company’s fiscal year. The company pointed to weak sales at bars and restaurants and competition from new flavoured whiskies.

Southern Comfort sales are divided about evenly between the US and overseas markets. Its leading international markets include Europe and Australia.

Brown-Forman has owned the Tuaca brand since 2002. The brand is mostly sold in the US but has a market in the United Kingdom as well.

Sazerac’s holdings in Kentucky include the Buffalo Trace, Barton 1792 and Glenmore distilleries.