Mark Anthony purchases 100% of Glendalough
Sign of the times (from left): Glendalough Distillery Co-Founder Brian Fagan with the Chief Executive of Mark Anthony Brands International Davin Nugent and Glendalough Distillery Co-Founder Barry Gallagher.
Mark Anthony Brands International is a member of the Mark Anthony Group, one of North America’s largest privately-owned alcohol beverage businesses. Led by its Chief Executive Davin Nugent, Mark Anthony Brands International was established in Dublin in 2014.
Three years ago Mark Anthony Brands International took an initial 40% stake in the County Wicklow distiller and commenting on the transaction Davin Nugent said, “As the pioneer of craft Irish whiskey and gin Glendalough has quickly established itself as one of Ireland’s leading premium spirit brands. The Glendalough portfolio presents a truly differentiated offering in both Irish whiskey and gin which uniquely positions the company for significant success not only in Ireland and North America but in many other international markets”.
Founded in 2011 by Barry Gallagher and Brian Fagan, Glendalough has become one of the country’s most innovative Irish whiskey- and gin-makers. Glendalough’s product, which underwent a bottling re-design last year, is currently sold into 40 markets around the world.
“In 2016 we welcomed Mark Anthony Brands onboard as a shareholder,” said Glendalough Director Brian Fagan, “They have always shared our vision for Glendalough and supported our efforts to grow the business”.
To date the Dublin-based Mark Anthony Brands International has focused on the development and distribution of major innovation projects including White Claw Hard Seltzer, created and developed in Ireland by Davin Nugent and his team.
This formed part of Mark Anthony’s objective to create and develop brands and liquids that better reflect the tastes and expectations of today’s consumers. Available in the US since 2016, Mark Anthony International is currently examining additional international markets to launch White Claw in early next year.
The purchase of Glendalough is the first spirit acquisition for Mark Anthony’s Irish business but not its first move into the spirits category. The company has already developed a major new Canadian Whiskey brand called Bearface which was launched in North America earlier this year and is gaining significant international attention, winning the Canadian Whiskey of the Year at the 2019 Canadian Whiskey Awards in addition to 10 other international whiskey awards.
The Glendalough business will continue to operate as a separate company from Mark Anthony under the leadership of the existing management team headed by Barry Gallagher and Brian Fagan.
RoI distribution of the Glendalough portfolio was recently taken on by Coca-Cola HBC Ireland, with Mark Anthony Crafted Spirits distributing in the US.
