Chinese milestone marked poignant close for Patrick Ricard

Patrick Ricard’s last official engagement for Pernod Ricard before his sudden death was a party to celebrate Martell Cognac passing annual sales of one million cases in China.

Held at the Musée Rodin in Paris, the event saw Pernod fly over its Chinese staff to mark this milestone, which has contributed to the fact that China is now level with the US as Pernod’s number one market.

The celebration made a poignant final event for Ricard, who first as chief executive and then as chairman presided over a period of expansion that saw the company double in size every seven years until his untimely death on 17 August, aged 67.

The company revealed that more than 500 Pernod Ricard employees attended Ricard’s funeral, which took place on the family’s island of Bendor, close to Toulon in the south of France.

At a press conference yesterday, following the release of Pernod’s end of year results, which saw the company achieve 8% organic growth, chief executive Pierre Pringuet revealed that the group had originally planned to announce its succession plan at the October annual general meeting.

However, in the wake of Patrick Ricard’s sudden death, the company brought forward its confirmation that, once Pringuet reaches the firm’s mandatory retirement age of 65 in 2015, the Ricard family will take back executive control in the form of 40-year-old Alexandre Ricard.

For the moment, Alexandre has been promoted to COO and deputy chief executive, while Danièle Ricard steps into the role of chairman and CEO Pierre Pringuet  extends his responsibilities to become vice-chairman of the board.

However, Pringuet confirmed that he will not take up another role within Pernod Ricard once his term as CEO finishes in 2015, saying: “I’ve got other things to do.”

As his time at the helm nears its end, speculation is mounting about whether Pringuet will want to add a major acquisition to his legacy. Although he continued to rule out a “transformational” purchase, Pringuet admitted: “debt is no longer a problem”.

As Diageo’s talks with the Beckmann Family over José Cuervo appear to be reaching a stalemate, could Pernod be considering a move on the world’s biggest Tequila brand?