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News
Campari sells off Irish liqueur brands
Gruppo Campari has announced it has sold two of its Irish whiskey liqueurs, Carolans Irish Cream and Irish Mist, to Bourbon maker Heaven Hill Brands.
The US$165 million deal is expected to be finalised by 1 August and while Campari has sold off the trademarks, inventories and brand assets of both Carolans and Irish Mist, it will continue to distribute both brands outside of the US.
The two companies were acquired by Campari in 2010 as part of a deal which included Frangelico, the key acquisition target. Carolans is the second biggest selling Irish whiskey cream liqueur in the world.
Campari has divested itself of a number of brands recently, and has completely sold off all of its assest in the wine industry
Heaven Hill is one of the largest Bourbon makers in the US and the largest that is still family-owned, with a portfolio that includes: Evan Williams Bourbon; Larceny, Elijah Craig and Henry McKenna Bourbons and vodka, gin, rum and liqueur brands.
Bob Kunze-Concewitz, CEO at Gruppo Campari, said: “The sale of Carolans and Irish Mist is the largest disposal ever completed by the Group. We are very pleased to sign this transaction with Heaven Hill, a prominent spirits company in the US and a perfect fit for Carolans and Irish Mist.
“With this transaction, we continue to streamline our non-strategic portfolio and further increase our focus on our priority spirit brands, particularly in our largest and core US market. Moreover, thanks to this disposal, we can further accelerate in the reduction of our financial indebtedness. Since the beginning of 2016 we have divested non-strategic assets for a total value of approximately € 260 million.”
Max L. Shapira, president of Heaven Hill Brands, said: “We are delighted to have worked with Gruppo Campari on this acquisition. Carolans and Irish Mist are great historic brands that are highly complementary to our broad portfolio of leading brands. We look forward to building on the strong success these brands have achieved both in the US and around the world.”
Hopefully this means they will go back to the original bottles that made Irish Mist stand out from all the other look-allike whiskey bottles. Like Crown Royal the old bottles were distinctive and meant I didn’t have to spend fifteen minutes searching for my Irish Mist.