William Grant Completes Irish C & C Aquisition

[John]

William Grant & Sons Ltd is the new owner of a portfolio of Irish spirits and liqueur brands, following the £250m acquisition of C&C's spirits.

The brands include; Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey, Carolans, Frangelico and Irish Mist.

The newly acquired business will operate as William Grant & Sons Irish Brands Ltd and a total of 63 employees plus other support from C&C will join the new company including 42 employees from Clonmel and 15 from Dublin.

As a result of the deal, Tullamore Dew, which at 600,000 cases is the world's second largest Irish whiskey brand, will become William Grant & Sons' sixth core brand in a portfolio which also includes Glenfiddich and The Balvenie Single Malt Scotch Whiskies, Grant's Scotch Whisky, Hendrick's Gin and Sailor Jerry spiced rum.

William Grant & Sons' chief executive, Stella David, said: "Today is an historic day for William Grant & Sons as this acquisition provides us with a complementary portfolio of brands and a unique opportunity to accelerate our growth in non-Scotch and enter the dynamic Irish whiskey category.

"We shall invest significantly in the Irish operations and are committed to building a strong business in Ireland and to maintaining and developing current operations here in Clonmel."

William Grant & Sons Irish Brands Ltd will be based in Dublin and Clonmel.

John

[William]

I see that William Grant has agreed to sell its liqueur business for more than £100m to Gruppo Campari. The sale includes the brands Carolans, Frangelico and Irish Mist, which William Grant acquired from the Irish company C&C group.

Under a 10-year agreement, William Grant will continue to blend and bottle the liqueurs in Ireland. The good news is there are to be no job losses as a result of the sale, which will be completed by the start of October.

Looks like Grants just wants to focus on Tullamore Dew.