Campari acquires brands from William Grant

Gruppo Campari is to acquire Carolans, Frangelico and Irish Mist from William Grant & Sons for €128.2 million.

Bob Kunze-Concewitz Campari CEO says: “With Carolans, Frangelico and Irish Mist we add a high-quality and profitable business with upside potential and further enhance the Group’s premium offering. In particular, we increase our critical mass in the highly-profitable US market and strengthen our exposure to a number of key international markets, including Australia, Russia, Canada, Spain and the UK. This acquisition represents a perfect fit in our acquisition framework, in business and financial terms. Moreover, it will benefit from low risk and easy integration, as we already account for 60% of the acquired portfolio volume and we are the global source for Frangelico.”

Overall the acquired business is expected to contribute around 1m 9-litre cases and net sales of €50m/yr. The sale will be completed on 1 October 2010.
There will be no job losses as a result of the transaction and bottling operations at William Grant & Sons’ Clonmel site will be unaffected because Campari has signed a 10 year manufacturing services agreement for William Grant & Sons to provide blending and bottling services for the liqueur brands in Clonmel. 

Speaking from William Grant & Sons’ newly established office in Dublin, CEO Stella David comments:  “We remain committed to building our business in Ireland and to building the long-term value of Tullamore Dew around the world.  Whilst Tullamore Dew was the key focus in our newly acquired portfolio, we always intended to develop the liqueur brands.  However, we were offered a very attractive price from Campari and believe they will be able to develop these brands given their relevant expertise.”

About the brands
Carolans is a global brand, a leading Irish cream liqueur with a total volume above 600,000 9-litre cases sold in more than 60 markets. The US is the brand’s largest market, accounting for approx. 60% of the brand’s sales.

Frangelico is a premium Italian hazelnut liqueur, a highly-profitable specialty brand sold in more than 90 markets. The US is the brand’s largest market, accounting for approx. 50% of the brand’s sales. High-quality, distinctive packaging and strong on-premise presence are key features of Frangelico.

Irish Mist is a liqueur made from a blend of Irish whiskey, honey and natural aromatic spices, sold in more than 40 markets (US is the brand’s largest market). Irish Mist will allow Gruppo Campari to exploit the strong momentum of the Irish whiskey category and the potential upside given by the strong trademark and new brand development opportunities.

1 September 2010 - Felicity Murray