Sazerac Launches €53.3 Million Offer for German Drinks Maker Berentzen

Berentzen shares jumped about 21–22 percent to around €5.50–€5.56 on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as the joint statement landed. Behind the move sat a cash price of €5.55 ($6.37) a share, valuing the German drinks maker at approximately €53.3 million—a 68 percent premium on its three-month volume-weighted average before 16 September 2026. The company had operated in the German market for more than 260 years.

Olivier Schwegmann and Ralf Bruehoefner, Berentzen’s chief executive and chief financial officer, set out the boards’ position in plain terms. The executive board and the supervisory board were backing the offer. “We, the executive board together with the supervisory board, see this as an outstanding opportunity for the Berentzen Group – for the company, its staff and its shareholders,” they said. The statement confirmed that Berentzen and Sazerac had entered a business combination agreement that same day, 21 September 2026. The boards pledged to recommend that shareholders accept what was coming.

Sazerac took the decision through Blitz 26-877 GmbH and published a voluntary public takeover offer under Section 10 of the WpÜG, the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act that governs public bids of this kind. Acceptance would have to clear a minimum threshold of 50 percent plus one share before the deal could complete.

“In our view, the offer is very attractive to our shareholders. We will therefore recommend that all shareholders accept the offer. The proposed price of €5.55 per share is on a level not seen for over two years. The business combination will present the Berentzen Group with an excellent opportunity to consistently pursue its growth strategy and tap into further potential for value creation at a pace and on a scale that is only possible with a strong strategic partner in a challenging European market,” Schwegmann and Bruehoefner said.

Berentzen’s market capitalisation stood at roughly €35 million before the takeover talks broke. The company was headquartered in Haselünne, in the Emsland region of Germany, and listed on the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the General Standard segment under ISIN DE0005201602 and WKN 520160. In 2025 its revenue fell 10.4 percent to €162.9 million.

“A high and steady rate of growth is of the utmost importance for achieving our strategic business objectives. In our view, the areas of innovative strength, sales capabilities and internationalisation play a particularly crucial role in this regard. These are precisely the areas in which Sazerac, as a globally positioned, financially strong partner, can make a real difference. Sazerac has enjoyed an impressive track record in recent years – also through strategic acquisitions,” Schwegmann and Bruehoefner said.

Jake Wenz, Sazerac CEO and president, put the centuries first. “We greatly value the Berentzen Group's long and storied history in the German market. Over centuries, Berentzen Group has achieved remarkable success and strong market presence, and it is very important to us to carry this forward into the future,” he said.

He cast the combination as a practical platform: shared production and distribution that could move spirits across Europe and beyond faster than either company could manage alone. The range would take in Berentzen brands, Sazerac’s own lines, and private-label ranges—spirits made under another company’s name rather than the distiller’s. “We are confident this business combination will be beneficial for both sides, enabling us to manufacture and distribute spirits products for the whole of Europe and beyond with greater flexibility and pace, including brands from the Berentzen Group, Sazerac as well as private-label ranges,” he said.

Wenz set out the ownership model in direct terms. Sazerac holds brands and the people who run them for the long haul rather than flipping them. “We take a long-term approach rooted in continued growth of the brands and teams we bring into our family. We believe we can provide enhanced resources to enable the Berentzen Group to continue to grow now and into the future,” he said.

The same pattern already sat on the books. Prior deals of the same kind included The Last Drop Distillers, Hawk’s Rock Distillery (formerly Lough Gill Distillery) in County Sligo, Ireland, and Au Vodka in the UK. “We have confidence that the Berentzen Group will profit from this business combination and from the addition of our own strong brands, which are also set to be produced and distributed by the German team in future. Sazerac has a strong record of successful similar deals, including The Last Drop Distillers, Hawk's Rock Distillery (formerly Lough Gill Distillery) in County Sligo, Ireland, Au Vodka in the UK, and many more,” Wenz said.

Those earlier purchases supplied the template now pointed at Haselünne. No regulatory clearances were required. Completion of the takeover was expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. The offer remained subject only to customary closing conditions and the minimum acceptance threshold.

Sazerac intended to delist Berentzen after completion. Berentzen’s executive board intended to support that delisting, subject to its fiduciary duty. The cash offer stood at €5.55 against a name still trading under its Frankfurt identifiers until the threshold cleared.