Arcus AS was Norway's largest wholesaler of wine and liquor. It was created when it was demerged from the state-owned wine and liquor retailer Vinmonopolet on January 1, 1996. The retailing operations were kept in Vinmonopolet; import, export, production, and storage were transferred to Arcus.
In July 2001 the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry sold 66% of the company to Sucra. Sucra were also in 2001 granted an option to purchase the rest of the company, which they did in 2003. In 2005 Sucra sold Arcus to the Swedish investment company Ratos, including the partial ownership of Braastad. In 2012 Danish Distillers (Aalborg Taffel, etc., Gammel Dansk) was bought from Pernod Ricard. But the akvavit brand Brøndums snaps, which was a brand of Danish Distillers since a merger in 1893, had to be divested because of the dominant position of Danish Distillers in the Danish market. This akvavit brand was sold to Finnish distillers Altia