The Swedish National Audit Office (NAO) has examined the Government’s sale of the company V&S Vin & Sprit AB. This company was sold last year to Pernod for SEK 55 billion. At the same time, the central-government sector’s shares in Beam Global Spirits & Wine were sold for SEK 2.8 billion.
The Swedish NAO finds that the sale of Vin & Sprit, excluding the shares in Beam, was a well-conducted operation yielding a good financial outcome. The good selling price was obtained in spite of the fact that the Government required the buyer to assume the greatest risks involved in the transaction, for example the risk that the buyer would not gain the approval of competition authorities. The audit shows that, in all material respects, the sale was carried out in accordance with best practice, i.e. in the most efficient way according to experience.
The Swedish NAO is of the opinion that the sale of Beam was not equally well performed. The Government Offices lacked adequate mandates and instructions from the Government at the time when the first contacts were made with the buyer, Fortune. The sale of Beam led to a capital loss of about SEK 2.1 billion for the central-government sector.
‘The sale of Vin & Sprit shows that the Government Offices have now strengthened their skills and their practical experience when it comes to selling companies. As regards future sales, it is important for the Government to be ready to act at short notice, so that the Government Offices may take advantage of favourable market conditions’, says Auditor General Eva Lindström.
Facts: The Swedish Government announced in December 2006 that the central-government sector would reduce its shareholdings in, among other companies, V&S Vin & Sprit AB (publ), a state-owned enterprise involved in the production and distribution of alcoholic beverages. Subsequent to an auction procedure, the Government decided on 31 March 2008 to sell Vin & Sprit to Pernod Ricard S.A. The sale was completed on 24 July 2008; on the same day, the Government also decided to transfer the central-government sector’s shares in Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., to Fortune Brands, Inc.
Download report (in Swedish)
Regeringens försäljning av V&S Vin & Sprit AB [‘The Government’s sale of V&S Vin & Sprit AB’] (RiR 2009:9)
Auditor General
Eva Lindström, +46 8 51714020
Project Manager
Dimitrios Ioannidis, +46 8 51714320, +46 73 4452320
Press Secretary
Martin Engman, phone +46 8 51714201 or +46 73 4452201
