Interest surrounding the Swedish government's auction of Vin & Sprit (V&S) is set to increase following today's positive Absolut Vodka trading results.
The V&S-owned label saw sales increase by 9% to 96.5 million litres in 2007.
Valued somewhere between $5 and $7 billion, interest in V&S has been marked with the Swedish government closing the first round of bidding on January 24th.
Pernod Ricard, Fortune Brands, Bacardi, Diageo, Swedish private-equity firm EQT and Swedish investment company Investor AB have all been previously linked with potential bids.
Absolut Spirits saw turnover increase by 3% in 2007 while profits improved by 6% - the figures represent the third year in a row the V&S division has seen sales increase.
Ketil Eriksen, president of V&S Absolut Spirits, said: “We focus on around ten key markets, work innovatively with the product portfolio and marketing and invest in the brand in the long term. Our consistent strategy, combined with tough cost control, has made possible both a good profit and much increased market investments.”
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