Brown-Forman to sell Finlandia Vodka

Brown-Forman has planned to sell its Finlandia vodka brand for US$220 million to Coca-Cola HBC.

With the recently announced sale, the Central and Eastern European Coca-Cola bottler will divest Brown-Forman of its sole vodka brand. Finlandia contributes only two percent of sales for the company that owns the Jack Daniel's brand.

Finlandia's value sales decreased by 5 percent year over year in Brown-Forman's most recent set of results for the nine months ending in the end of January, despite a 1 percent gain in volumes.

The transaction, which is anticipated to be completed in the second half of this year, will see Coca-Cola HBC fully assume management of the Brown-Forman Finland unit and builds on the bottler's 17 years of experience serving as a distributor for the US company's brands, including Finlandia, in its markets. According to the expert in soft drinks, Poland, with 23 percent of total volumes, accounts for over 60 percent of vodka production.