Irish Mist & Carolans sold to Campari
Within months of acquiring Irish Mist and Carolans Irish Liqueur, William Grant & Sons has sold on the brands onto Italian company Cruppo Campari, along with Frangelico, for €129 million.
However William Grant & Sons, which purchased the brands – along with Tullamore Dew – from the C&C Group only six months ago, “remains committed to making a significant investment in Ireland”.
And Campari has signed a 10-year manufacturing services deal with William Grant to provide blending and bottling services for the liqueur brands in Clonmel’s bottling plant.
Grants has stated that it will continue to invest “in the long-term value growth” of Tullamore Dew.
“Whilst Tullamore Dew was the key focus in our newly-acquired portfolio, we always intended to develop the liqueur brands,” stated Stella David, Chief Executive of William Grant, “However, we were offered a very attractive price from Campari and believe they will be able to develop these brands given their relevant expertise.”
Campari’s Chief Executive Bob Kunze-Cioncewitz believes that the brand acquisitions will help increase Campari’s “critical mass” in the highly-profitable US market while it also strengthens the company’s exposure to a number of key international markets such as Australia, Russia, Canada, Spain and the UK.
Campari is already the global source for Frangelico.
The deal will be concluded on the 1st of October.
