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Analysts urge Tequila giant to switch stock exchange – or sell up

07 March 2024 By Sarah Neish

Financial analysts claim that Becle, the world’s biggest Tequila company, is gravely undervalued on the Mexican stock market and should move its listing to the US in order to better compete with rivals.

Marathon Partners Equity Management, based in New York, has urged Tequila producer Becle to shift its listing over to the US stock exchange, warning that the company is “significantly undervalued” where it is.

Mario Cibelli, managing member at Marathon, pointed out that Becle’s return since listing the company on the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores in 2017 is dramatically less than that of rival spirits companies Pernod Ricard, Diageo, Brown-Forman, Rémy Cointreau and Davide Campari Milano.

To turn the situation around, Cibelli has strongly advised Becle’s board to either relist itself on another exchange, or consider a sale to a bigger rival.

In a letter sent to the board, Cibelli wrote: “We believe the most value would likely be created from a strategic merger combination that results in a larger and stronger spirits organisation to better compete on the global stage.”

Becle, which owns Tequila brands including Jose Cuervo, Maestro Dobel and Mezcal Creyente, is currently valued at US$8.5 billion and is the only major spirits company not listed on a major exchange.

In February 2024, Becle announced it had seen a 41% rise in net profit for the final three months of 2023 compared to the same period a year earlier, evidencing that the recent downturn it had experienced (caused by a slump in US sales and the rising value of the peso) was slowing.

In Becle’s Mexican home market, which accounts for about a quarter of its annual revenues, sales rose by 10% in the quarter compared with 2022.

Marathon has a vested interest in Becle’s success as the NYC firm owns 15 million shares in the Tequila making company.

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