Campari to acquire Carolans, Frangelico and Irish Mist

16 September, 2010

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

According to Campari, the acquisition reinforces the company’s “position as a fast growing company in the US and key international premium spirits markets”.

The acquired business includes the Carolans, Frangelico, Irish Mist trademarks and finished goods.

The enterprise value of the acquired business is € 128.2 million, corresponding to 7.5 times the pro forma EBITDA 2009 (inclusive of the distribution margins of the Frangelico brand in the US).  The transaction is expected to close on October 1, 2010 and the consideration will be fully self-financed.

Bob Kunze-Concewitz, chief executive officer, said: “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.”

Campari said the acquired business is expected to contribute approximately one million nine-litre cases and net sales of € 50 million on annual basis.

Irish cream liqueur Carolans has total volumes above 600,000 nine-litre cases in approximately 60 markets.

Frangelico is an Italian hazelnut liqueur sold in approximately 90 markets. The US is the brand’s largest market, accounting for roughly 50% of the brand’s sales.

Irish Mist, a liqueur made from a blend of Irish whiskey, honey and natural aromatic spices, is sold in more than 40 markets (US is the brand’s largest market).

The statement concluded: “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.”

William Grant acquired all three brands from C&C Group in April. You can read more about that here





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