Pernod sells Wild Turkey

French drinks company Pernod Ricard, the worldÔÇÖs second-largest liquor maker, announced on Wednesday a Ôé¼1 billion ($1.3 billion) rights offering of its Wild Turkey bourbon to ItalyÔÇÖs Gruppo Campari in an effort to speed up debt reduction. Pernod took on added debt when it bought Sweden's Vin & Spirits, the maker of Absolut vodka, for $9.24 billion. The Wild Turkey sale "is an important part" of the companyÔÇÖs debt reduction plan, Pernod said in the statement, and wants to ÔÇ£return to a solid investment-grade position,ÔÇØ according to chief financial officer Emmanuel Babeau. ┬á┬á Gruppo Campari, maker of the tradition-laden aperitif of the same name has agreed to pay $575 million in cash for the Lawrenceburg, Kentucky-based Wild Turkey, Pernod said in a statement. ┬á┬á The French company said the share sale with preferential rights for existing shareholders would be launched "as soon as possible," subject to market conditions and approval by regulators. ┬á┬á Pernod Ricard, known for its anis-flavored aperitifs as well as Beefeater gin and Chivas Regal whisky, said both measures would shore up its balance sheet by lowering its debt and "address the major part of its financing needs until July 2013." ┬á┬á The company also made a forecast of double-digit growth in recurring net profit in the year ending June 30 to more than Ôé¼1 billion.  In its own statement Wednesday, Campari said its purchase of Wild Turkey was "a unique opportunity to enter the attractive and growing bourbon whiskey category" and demonstrated its strategy of pushing further into the U.S. spirits market.