Walsh Whiskey, founded in 1999 by Bernard and Rosemary Walsh, owns two brands called The Irishman and Writers' Tears which are both sold in more than 50 countries.
The acquisition is ABG’s first entry into the Irish whiskey sector and Bernard Walsh, who will continue as managing director, said: "Given the underlying strengths of our brands and of the long-term trajectory of Irish whiskey, this is a logical next step for us, providing a means of scaling up the business so that a greater number of consumers have the opportunity to participate in the search for the perfect drop or ‘taoscán' of whiskey.
"I will continue to oversee all aspects of the business and in particular the development and production of our whiskeys, ensuring continuity of the same flavour profiles and high standards that have been the foundation of our success.”
Jekaterina Stuģe, CEO of ABG, added: "This is a major step for us as a company. We already own and bottle 100 brands as well as distributing and selling more than 1,300 third-party brands. This is the first time we have entered into the whiskey sector and we are particularly pleased that ABG is now part of the consistently high-growth story that is the super-premium end of the Irish whiskey market.”
