Martin Miller’s gin sells majority stake

Spain’s Zamora Company, which owns brands including Licor 43 and Ramón Bilbao, has acquired a majority stake in Martin Miller’s gin, continuing a streak of purchases in recent months that has included polka-dotted sangria brand Lolea, US whiskey Yellow Rose and Villa Massa Limoncello.

Zamora has taken a majority stake in Martin Miller’s Gin

Martin Miller’s is produced in the UK and made using Arctic water sourced from Iceland, with the range also including Westbourne Strength and 9 Moons Gin.

As part of the deal, co-founders David Bromige and Andreas Versteegh, and CEO Jacob Ehrenkrona, have retained the bulk of their interest in the brand through Living Capital’s 45% shareholding, making Zamora – which also owns Licor 43 and Bodegas Ramón Bilbao – the only other shareholder.

“Our brands are the soul of our company and Martin Miller´s Gin perfectly reflects our vision as creators of premium brands, as innovators with a vocation to lead the market,” said Emilio Restoy, CEO of Zamora Company. “This agreement is clear proof of the vision of Zamora Company to be recognized as one of the most dynamic players in the beverages market – a producer and distributor of premium brands worldwide.”

Ehrenkrona and Bromige will remain in their current positions as CEO and Creative Director, while Versteegh has been replaced by Emilio Restoy as chairman of the board. Versteegh will continue as a board member with focus on new product development of Martin Miller’s.

“As well as being the fastest-growing Super Premium gin in the Spanish market, Martin Miller’s Gin has also seen strong growth in other key Gin markets such as the Central Europe and the UK,” said Ehrenkrona.

Zamora purchased a stake in Spain’s Lolea sangria brand earlier this month

“Sales have been particularly strong in the UK where they grew 50% in 2017, adding to a total global volume of 100,000 cases 8.4L. Specifically in the key US market, key for the development of the brand, we will continue with the current importer.

“However, in this partnership with Zamora Company, we will be able to considerably increase investment in brand building in the middle term. What is more, together we can break into new international markets by capitalizing on the sales capacity of Zamora Company without compromising the product’s identity or its genuine spirit.”

Its acquisition of Martin Miller’s follows Zamora’s purchase of a strategic stake in sangria brand Lolea and Texas-based craft whiskey brand Yellow Rose in November 2017, which followed company’s complete acquisition of Villa Massa Limoncello the same month.

“These acquisitions are part of the Zamora Company strategic plan with which we aim to constantly add value to the company with people and brands in order to enable us to reach our established goals of building a world class company with world class brands,” added Restoy.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.