Emperador buys Whyte & Mackay for £430M

MANILA, Philippines – Emperador, the Philippines’ largest liquor maker, acquired United Spirits Ltd’s scotch whisky unit Whyte & Mackay for £430 million ($729 million).

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, May 12, Emperador, owned by billionaire Andrew Tan, said its wholly owned subsidiary Emperador UK Limited entered into an agreement with United Spirits for the purchase of 100% of Whyte & Mackay.

Emperador, one of the world’s biggest brandy producers, said the deal was in line with its plans to expand its global portfolio.

“Whisky is the second fastest growing spirits segment in the world next to brandy. With this acquisition, Emperador will be exposed to two of the fastest growing spirits segments in the world,” said Tan.

“We believe that Whyte & Mackay is a prized asset with excellent growth opportunity and its acquisition is in line with our plans to enhance our product portfolio. Whyte & Mackay has a global distribution network in over 50 countries that Emperador Brandy will have access to,” he added.

Whyte & Mackay is the 5th largest maker of Scotch whisky in the world. It owns some of the most iconic Scotch brands in the industry and holds a substantial inventory of aged whiskies. It has production capacity of 50 million liters of alcohol per annum with 5 distilleries and one bottling plant in Scotland.

Tan said the acquisition would be immediately accretive to Emperador’s earnings.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and approval of United Spirits’ shareholders.

Trading of Emperador shares was suspended by the Philippine Stock Exchange Monday morning, pending the full disclosure of the deal.

Emperador is a unit of Tan’s holding company Alliance Global Group, which is also engaged in real estate, resorts and gaming, and fast food restaurants. – Rappler.com