Pernod seen close to selling Wild Turkey

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - French drinks group Pernod Ricard (PERP.PA) is set to announce a 1 billion euro (920 million pound) rights issue and a deal to sell its Wild Turkey bourbon brand for $575 million (392 million pound), the Financial Times website reported on Tuesday, without citing sources.

The Wall Street Journal identified Italy's Gruppo Campari as the buyer of the Kentucky-made whiskey.

The report on the newspaper's website WSJ.com was sourced to people familiar with the matter and said the sale could be announced as early as Wednesday.

Pernod has owned the Wild Turkey for nearly three decades. Campari is the maker of Skyy vodka, several whiskeys, but not a bourbon. It has recently shown interest in acquisitions, the Journal report said.

Senior Pernod executives told Reuters in February the firm was focussed on paying down the debt it took on last year to make the 5.6 billion euro acquisition of Vin & Sprit, the Swedish drinks group behind Absolut vodka.

Pernod could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Tim Castle in London and Grant McCool in New York; editing by Carol Bishopric)