Rumours that Pernod Ricard had put its massive BWG distribution business up for sale have been firmly scotched by joint managing director Richard Burrows. Speaking exclusively to The Grocer, he said BWG was a valued part of the business which Pernod Ricard was looking to expand. The rumours began after a Merrill Lynch report suggested Pernod Ricard wouldn't be able to fund its joint bid with Diageo for Seagram's drink business without selling off some non core businesses. Reports in the Irish press pointed out that although it was highly successful, BWG, which owns distribution businesses in the Irish Republic and Great Britain, did not fit easily into the Pernod Ricard business. But Burrows said: "That is ill founded speculation. We are quite confident of our ability to fund the bid through normal financing arrangements. "BWG is not part of the core business, but is a very profitable, developing part of the business, and one of the fastest growing elements." He said Pernod Ricard would be sticking to its strategy of increasing BWG's presence in the UK to achieve the kind of synergy and buying power it has in Ireland where it owns 20-25% of the market. In the Irish Republic, BWG owns the Spar franchise and some regions of the Mace franchise. In Northern Ireland it owns J&J Haslett which controls the Mace franchise and the Holmes C&C chain. Its move into the UK began in 1998 when it purchased Appleby Westward, the Spar distributor for the West Country. It followed this up by buying Scottish C&C companies Bellevue and Rentons, and then snapped up three of the big six Key Lekkerland companies, Saxtons, Goodwins and Symonds. Burrows said the company had averaged two to three acquisitions a year in the UK and he saw no reason for that to slow down. {{NEWS }}