Sazerac Company has completed its acquisition of Au Vodka. The purchase price was not disclosed in the sources.
The deal was reported on 18 September 2026. According to the source, Au Vodka is a fast-growing brand with a substantial digital operation built around it, including ecommerce, merchandise, gifting, CRM, a store locator, age verification, state-level shipping rules and a fast product-launch cycle.
The same source states that shortly after the Au Vodka acquisition completed, Berentzen-Gruppe AG confirmed it is in talks with Sazerac about a possible takeover. That potential deal remains subject to discussion and has not been agreed. Berentzen operates across spirits, non-alcoholic beverages and fresh juice systems, and its first-half revenue and operating profit were both down significantly versus the prior year, according to the source.
The source, writing from a digital integration perspective, contrasts the two situations. It says that with Au Vodka, part of the integration work involves identifying what made the business successful and should not be broken, while with Berentzen, if a deal happens, the question may be what needs to change. The source argues that integration should become a repeatable capability for acquisitive companies rather than a series of migrations, and that the goal is not to make every acquired brand operate the same way but to strengthen the combined organization without standardizing away the advantages it paid to acquire.
The source also cites earlier transactions it supported, including the digital transition of Diageo's Château & Estate Wines business to Treasury Wine Estates, and work with acquired brands Casamigos Tequila and Seedlip Drinks after they became part of Diageo.