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...acquisition of V&S brings Pernod Ricard closer than ever to its goal of catching Diageo. The combined company will have global sales of 91 million cases, compared with Diageo's 93 million. Absolut alone will propel Pernod Ricard from fourth place to second in the North American market, with a 14% market share, compared with Diageo's 26%. Can the former pastis family business become the global drinks leader? The banks that financed the deal in a difficult market show that for some, at least, the answer to that question is Absolut...
...where the battered U.S. airline industry must head: scaled back, smarter, more global and perhaps even profitable. With just 122 planes, 13,600 employees and about $5 billion in revenue last year, all the Virgin airlines put together--Branson's Virgin Group has stakes in Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America, V Australia and Virgin Blue in Australia and Virgin Nigeria--are a speck in the eye of the largest U.S. carrier, American, whose 655 planes generated $23 billion in sales...
Branson is in Los Angeles to celebrate the launch of V Australia, which will begin flying from Sydney to Los Angeles on Dec. 15. With that last piece of the puzzle in place, he proclaims, "I can finally fly all the way around the world on a Virgin plane!" Over lunch, he and the Australians hatch plans to promote it with a classic Virgin publicity stunt, inevitably involving an appearance by Sir Richard...
...Virgin brand (an extension of Branson's lighthearted persona in a red-and-purple color scheme) but otherwise owned and operated independently. Each has its own business model--different services for different customers in a different set of cities--but they can work together as needed. Virgin Atlantic, V Australia and Virgin America, for example, plan to share a first-class lounge at LAX and thus reduce overhead. Virgin America, V Australia and Virgin Blue can decide on a whim to allow some of their flight attendants to trade cities for a year or compare notes--as their CEOs...
Branson likes to cultivate an image of himself as a risk taker. He was right in character at the press conference announcing V Australia, staged inside one of the departure terminals at LAX, to the slight confusion of people walking toward security. As Brett Godfrey, Virgin Blue's CEO, unveils the airline's introductory fare--$1,000 round trip between Sydney and Los Angeles--Branson, in jeans and a rumpled polo shirt, interrupts. "That's not good enough," he declares. "What kind of plane are we flying? 777s? Then let's make it $777 for the first thousand tickets!" People...