Remy Cointreau buys Bruichladdich Distillery

After entering exclusive talks, Rémy Cointreau has agreed to acquire Bruichladdich Distillery Company for £58 million.

The price includes £48m ($74.4m) for Bruichladdich’s entire share capital and an additional £10m ($15.5m) of debt that Rémy Cointreau will assume. The deal is expected to close within six weeks.

Only last month Rémy Cointreau, whose brand portfolio includes Rémy Martin Cognac, Cointreau liqueur and Mount Gay rum, announced “outstanding” profits of €207.7m, a 24.4% increase on its 2011 year-end results.

The addition of Bruichladdich should give Rémy a boost in Asian markets like China, where Scotch and Cognac vie for leadership of the fast-rising imported spirits category.

With the Scotch Whisky Association reporting record shipments of £4.2 billion last year, thanks to rising demand in both mature and emerging markets, it is no surprise that Rémy Cointreau wishes to add a Scotch whisky brand to its portfolio.