Ben Dumit

This industry is under siege and they have to find ways to right the ship.

One way of doing that is to merge in hopes of generating a lot of cost savings.

Because right now demand is falling for all sorts of reasons.

Together, the combined entity could be worth upwards of $30 billion.

That ultimately depends on how the market reacts to the news that they are in talks.

Last night, we saw Pernod's stock fall in the U.S., whereas we saw Brown Forman's stock rise.

But it just underscores that this industry is under siege, and they have to find ways to right the ship.

One way of doing that is to merge in hopes of generating a lot of cost savings, because right now, demand is falling for all sorts of reasons.

People are tightening their purse strings.

They don't want to spend as much money on premium brands.

The tariffs have played a big role.

Canada, for example, essentially took all of U.S.

liquor off its shelves because of the Trump tariffs.

So it's a tough time for the industry.