A Perthshire distillery which provided the backdrop to Bafta-award-winning film the Angel’s Share has been sold to a South African drinks company as part of a £160 million deal.
The Distell Group yesterday moved to snap up East Kilbride-based Burn Stewart Distillers, which produces a range of blended and single malt whiskies.
Its top-selling brand is Scottish Leader, which is produced from Deanston Distillery near Doune and shifts around 500,000 cases a year.
The distillery, which also produces a range of malt whiskies, came to prominence last year as the location of Ken Loach’s acclaimed movie featuring Paul Brannigan.
Distell’s purchase of Burn Stewart from owners CL World Brands Group and Trinidad and Tobago-based Angostura Ltd also includes the Bunnahabhain and Tobermory distilleries on Islay and Mull respectively, and a blending and maturation facility, bottling hall and storage site.
The combined production and distribution operation ships about 1.5m cases of whisky a year and employs around 270 staff, all of whom are transferring to Distell under the new agreement.
Burn Stewart managing director Fraser Thornton said the deal, which extends a 14-year relationship between the two companies, was positive for the firm after a challenging period.
“First and foremost for everyone at Burn Stewart, in Distell we are getting a shareholder that is financially strong and secure and committed to the drinks industry,” Mr Thornton said.
“The shareholder previously, a Trinidadian group, got into financial difficulty in 2009 and it really put pressure on all of their operating activities in that period of time.
“Getting the business into a strong and secure business like Distell is good news for everyone involved. It means we will be able to access the investment needed to drive our brands forward.”
Mr Thornton said the business would look to increase its presence in the malt whisky market.
“We do relatively well with our blended portfolio with Scottish Leader and Black Bottle driving that, but we actually underperform in malt sales when you look at it compared to our blended business.”
He added: “We don’t have any immediate plans to be buying or building new distilleries, but certainly what we will do is continue to invest in our malt production business so we can sustain and support growth in our malt brands over the next 10, 12 and 15 years.”
Distell Group managing director Jan Scannell said Scottish Leader, which already has an established market in Taiwan, would complement the other spirits brands it sells in the country.
He also said he was delighted to be involved in the wider Scotch industry, a sector that has grown by 87% in the past decade to an annual estimated sales of value of £4.3 billion.
He said: “Our acquisition of Burn Stewart is a very significant development for Distell from a strategic perspective, but also given the rich and proud history and heritage of the brands involved.
“This gives us an outstanding foundation from which to build, while cherishing their individual traditions.
“Bunnahabhain, the Burn Stewart Distillers’ flagship single malt, is made on Islay. There are only eight distilleries on the island, so we are extremely fortunate to acquire this very highly-ranked brand.
“Tobermory is the only distillery on the Isle of Mull, while the home of Scottish Leader is the Deanston Distillery situated in Doune near Stirling, close to both Edinburgh and Glasgow, and another important destination for whisky enthusiasts.”
The purchase marks the second time in recent years that Distell has invested in its spirits portfolio, following the 2009 acquisition of cognac brand Bisquit from Pernod Ricard.