Mr Patrick Ricard, chairman and chief executive of Pernod Ricard, plays his cards close to his chest on the French drinks company's intentions towards its British rival, Allied Domecq.
"You never know," he says. This is a frustrating response given speculation that Pernod, the world's fifth-largest drinks group, is considering a bid for Allied, the second-largest.
But Mr Ricard is determined to keep all his options open. When it comes to UK-listed companies, he says, the London Stock Exchange will not let you change your mind.
"As we never know what will happen, we've found the best thing to say is nothing."
One thing is clear, however: Pernod, created in 1975 by the merger of France's two leading anise producers, is an acquisitive company. Since Mr Ricard took the top job in 1978, it has built up a formidable portfolio of products.
In the early 1980s, it acquired Orangina, the French soft drink. At the same time, it became the world's biggest fruit drink producer by buying SIAS-MPA with brands such as Pampryl.
Most of the Irish whiskey industry came under its control in 1988, along with a grocery distribution business that has expanded throughout Britain and Ireland. The following year Pernod bought Orlando Wines, the maker of the leading Australian wine brand, Jacob's Creek.
Other acquisitions have included Havana Club Cuban rum, along with Larios Spanish gin and Becherovka, a Czech bitter liqueur. It now has eight of the 100 best-selling global spirits and less than a third of its sales are in France compared with 80 per cent 25 years ago.
While other big drinks groups are becoming centralised, Pernod operates as a federation, leaving the companies to manage the brands and the sales organisations in each country. Head office on Paris's Boulevard Haussmann has just 40 staff and no room to expand.
"Our people have the freedom to be entrepreneurs," says Mr Ricard. "When people work for themselves, they work harder."
The priority now is to win approval from the French government to sell Orangina to CocaCola. This would release funds for further additions to the drinks portfolio.
But would the families that control the group be willing to issue shares to finance the purchase of a larger target such as Allied Domecq? Speculation that it would was sharpened two weeks ago when Mr Ricard said the families were willing to dilute their stakes.
This week he says too much has been read into his comments - Pernod is not interested in growth for growth's sake.
"We are pragmatic - if we need to dilute to achieve a goal, we will," he says. "If LVMH were to put Moet-Hennessy up for sale this afternoon, we would dilute."
