More details of the sale of Seagram's lucrative alcohol business were released in Montreal on Monday.

Pernod-Ricard, a French company, has bought 39 per cent of the business. A British company, Diageo, has bought the remaining portion.

Seagram's history in Canada began when Montrealer Sam Bronfman founded a distillery in 1924.

It has come a long way since the prohibition era, expanding into the entertainment industry.

Seagram merged with another big company, Vivendi Universal, a French media group.

Vivendi bought Seagram for its entertainment assets, not for its booze. Vivendi sold the liquor business to two European drink giants for just over $8 billion.

Pernod-Ricard bought a 40 per cent share, including major sellers like Chivas Regal and Seagram's gin. Pernod President Patrick Ricard is betting his new acquisitions will help his already big company get bigger.

"By next year, we should be 50 per cent bigger," Ricard says, "and by 2005, we should be twice as big as we are now."

Pernod has nothing to do with Seagram's Canadian assets, which were bought by the British firm and neither company bought Seagram's Montreal headquarters.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval, but Ricard thinks that shouldn't take more than a few months.