French drinks firm Pernod Ricard has sold Paddy Irish Whiskey to US-based spirits producer Sazerac.

Financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Earlier this month, the company initiated negotiations with the US firm on the sale of the whiskey brand, reported thedrinksbusiness.com.

"In the global market, Irish whiskey experienced the fastest volume growth in the last five years."

The growth rate of Irish whiskey is expected to reach 100% by 2020. Irish Distillers was formed in 1966. Two decades later, it was acquired by Pernod Ricard.

In 2015, it closed a €220m investment to double its production and bottling capacity. It employs more than 600 people across its operations in Cork and Dublin.

Paddy Irish Whiskey sells 200,000 9l cases in close to 30 countries annually.

Sazerac president and CEO Mark Brown was quoted by the website as saying: "In the global market, Irish whiskey experienced the fastest volume growth in the last five years, outpacing all other spirits categories.

"Consumers worldwide are seeing it as an alternative to other whiskies".

A privately held firm, Sazerac has operations in New Orleans, Louisiana; Frankfort, Bardstown, Louisville and Owensboro, Kentucky; Fredericksburg, Virginia; Carson, California; Baltimore, Maryland; Lewiston, Maine; Manchester, New Hampshire; as well as and Montreal in Canada.