Campari pauses M&A to focus on brand growth amid US tariffs

By Elisa Anzolin

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian spirits radical Campari plans to enactment the brakes connected M&A and absorption connected processing its astir promising brands arsenic it faces a deed from U.S. tariffs, its caller main enforcement said.

The determination to efficaciously intermission acquisitions marks a important displacement successful the company's concern strategy, which successful the past aimed for 50% of its maturation to beryllium powered by deals.

"The main crushed I've decided to intermission M&A for present is our nett debt... we request to proceed to get that down," Simon Hunt, who took complaint successful January, told Reuters successful a post-results interview.

At the extremity of past twelvemonth nett indebtedness was astir 3.2 times the group's halfway profit.

"I wouldn't accidental never, but I'd accidental for the adjacent mates of years, fewer years, (the priorities) I spot are deleverage, absorption connected our halfway portfolio and truly optimize the brands that we person already acquired," helium added.

Campari's past large woody was the $1.2 cardinal acquisition of historical French cognac location Courvoisier, completed past year.

The radical is successful the process of moving done a caller strategy and assessing which brands it tin divest and which ones tin grow successful caller markets, Hunt said, adding it has brands which are large successful a fewer markets and the imaginable to grow successful galore different geographies.

Among the brands which are much apt to beryllium sold disconnected are the ones focused connected lone a azygous market.

Campari warned connected Tuesday of the imaginable deed from U.S. tariffs successful what it said would beryllium a "transitional year" nether its caller main enforcement who took implicit aft his predecessor discontinue lone a fewer months into the job.

The radical is assessing actions to mitigate the U.S. tariffs.

It is inactive not wide however overmuch of the terms summation volition beryllium transferred to the extremity customer, due to the fact that the terms elasticity depends overmuch connected what their competitors volition do, Hunt said.

The manager added the radical is assessing the opportunities to grow its accumulation successful the U.S. without losing the essence of its marque portfolio.

"And truthful there's ever a equilibrium with respecting our practice and past seeing however the situation has changed... What's the champion mode for america to get them determination (to U.S. consumers) astatine the close price, astatine the close quality?", Hunt said.

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Keith Weir)