It was not of the magnitude of Royal Bank of Scotland’s acquisition of ABN Amro, or Rio Tinto’s of Alcan. Still, Pernod Ricard’s exuberantly valued €5.6bn purchase of the owner of Absolut vodka last year was another top-of-the-market deal. However, the French spirits group seems to be making a better fist of dealing with its €12bn debt mountain than some of its fellow acquirers.

The question is why Pernod chose to do a €1bn rights issue right now. Only in February, Pernod emphasised that it had no debt maturing until €1.5bn in its fiscal year starting July 2010, which should be fully covered by cash flow and disposals. So its move to tap shareholders provoked worries that something nasty was happening to its growth outlook and projected €1bn-a-year free cash flow. Pernod also trimmed profit guidance on Wednesday after organic sales fell sharply between January and March.