, Columnist
Bacardi Spikes the Punch Bowl
Its takeover of Patron calls attention to whiskey maker Brown-Forman's overpriced stock.
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Bacardi Ltd.'s takeover of Patron tells us two things: 1) the market for premium alcoholic beverages is hot, and 2) so much so, that one of their publicly traded peers may be overheating.
Bacardi, a family-owned company, announced on Monday that it's acquiring Patron in a transaction that values the privately held tequila maker at $5.1 billion. This will give Bacardi a much larger piece of the tequila market, which particularly at the higher end has been growing faster than rum and vodka, Bacardi's mainstays.