William Grant & Sons is among an initial crop of bidders for Drambuie, which is being pursued by other suitors including the French maker of Remy Martin cognac Remy-Cointreau, the news service reported citing insiders whom they did not identify. (http://bit.ly/1p8mlrp)

Sky News said that a number of other major drinks groups, including Diageo and LVMH, are understood to have opted not to make offers for Drambuie.

William Grant could not be reached for a comment outside of normal business hours.

($1 = 0.5856 British pounds)

(Reporting by Aashika Jain in Bangalore)

Stocks treated in this article : LVMH, Diageo plc