- V&S Group
Infobox Company
name = V&S Group
type = Government-owned
genre =
foundation = 1917
founder =
location_city = Stockholm
location_country = Sweden
location =
locations =
area_served = Worldwide
key_people =Anders Narvinger (Chairman),Bengt Baron (President & CEO)
industry =
products =Absolut ,Alcoholic beverages
services =
revenue = 10.3b SEK (2007)
operating_income = 2.3b SEK (2007)
net_income = 1.47b SEK (2007)
num_employees = 2,500
parent =
divisions =
subsid =
slogan =
homepage = [http://www.vsgroup.com/ vsgroup.com]
footnotes =
intl =V&S Group ("V&S Vin & Sprit AB"), founded in 1917, is an international producer and distributor of
alcoholic beverage s. The group is currently owned by the government ofSweden . Headquartered inStockholm , the capital of Sweden, the group employs approximately 2,500 people.Until 1994, the group had the position of a national
monopoly for production and distribution, but this was abolished when Sweden joined theEuropean Union in 1995. However, the Swedish alcohol retailing monopoly, operated bySystembolaget , is still in force. On March 31, 2008 it was announced that the Swedish government intended to sell V & S Group toPernod Ricard for 5.626 billioneuro , corresponding to 55 billion Swedish kronor [cite news
url = http://www.thelocal.se/10800/20080331/
title = Pernod wins auction for Vin & Sprit
accessdate = 2008-03-31
publisher = The Local
date = 2008-03-31] .The acronym "V&S" comes from the name "Vin & Sprit", literally meaning "Wine & Spirits."
Organization and brands
V&S Group is divided into three main areas:
*"V&S Absolut Spirits" handles
Absolut Vodka and the other international spirits brands, such asLevel Vodka ,Frïs Vodka ,Plymouth Gin , andCruzan Rum .
*"V&S Distillers" handles spirits on the Northern and Central European markets.
*"V&S Wine" handleswine s andfortified wine s in theNordic region .Production and distribution
The production of the group's international spirits takes place in
Sweden ,Denmark ,Great Britain , andSt. Croix , U.S. Virgin Islands. Production of their local and regional spirits takes place primarily in Sweden, Denmark,Finland ,Germany , andPoland . In Northern Europe, V&S Group is the largest importer and distributor of wine. The group offers their own brands of wine and also produces brands by well-known international companies.Distribution in the Nordic area is primarily handled through the group's distribution centers in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. V&S Group is represented by the subsidiary V&S Norway in
Norway , byV&S Eesti inEstonia , and by the companyV&S Luksusowa Zielona Góra in Poland. In theUnited States , distribution is handled byFuture Brands , of which the group owns a 49% share. In most other regions of the world, distribution is handled byMaxxium , also partly owned by the group.ales
About three-quarters of the group's sales come from spirits, whereas the remaining quarter comes from wine. Vodka is their largest selling spirit, in which Absolut holds the highest sales figures. Geographically,
North America is the group's single biggest market, accounting for 43% of total sales in 2007. The Swedish market accounts for one-sixth (approximately 15%) of sales. As volume is concerned, the group sold 158.4 millionliter s of spirits and 83.7 million liters of wine, totaling 242.1 million liters of product.ee also
*
List of government enterprises of Sweden Notes
External links
* [http://www.vsgroup.com V&S Group] (in English)
* [http://www.vsgroup.se V&S Group] (in Swedish)
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