Famous grouse owners buy top rum brand
7th Feb. 2008
THE owners of the renowned Famous Grouse whisky have bought a majority stake in
one of the world's top rum producers in a deal worth around Pounds 200million.
The move by the Edrington Group will see Brugal being sold alongside premium
malt whisky brands such as The Macallan and Highland Park.
It is the first overseas acquisition by the Glasgow-based company and the
first expansion by Edrington into a different sector of the spirits market.
The investment will give the group a 60 per cent holding in the Brugal
Company, which is based in the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean and sells
five million cases of rum a year.
Industry experts predict it will be a money-spinning deal as it will
immediately boost the Scottish company's turnover by a fifth, with the annual
sales of the rum brand totalling around Pounds 60million.
An Edrington spokesman said: 'Brugal will be added to our key brands of The
Famous Grouse, Cutty Sark, and The Macallan and Highland Park malts.
'Rum is one of the fastest growing sectors within the global drinks industry.
We have the expertise to build the brand further from our position of strength.
'Brugal will fit well within our existing Maxxium sales operation as the
global markets for rum and Scotch are complimentary.
Rum does not compete directly with Scotch whisky.' Brugal is the leading rum
brand in the Dominican Republic, where it has more than 80 per cent of the
market. And it is the fastest growing rum brand in Europe, having grown more
than 70 per cent between 2002 and 2006.
The company has a workforce of around 1,000 people..
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