LISTED liquor company Emperador Inc. owned by tycoon Andrew L. Tan has acquired Fundador Pedro Domecq, Spain’s largest and oldest brandy, in an “all-cash” deal worth 275 million euros, or P13.8 billion, the Inquirer learned Monday.
The purchase solidifies Emperador’s position as the world’s largest brandy company and makes the Tan-led firm one of the largest foreign investors in Jerez, the brandy capital of Spain.
Under the deal closed on Saturday in Madrid, Grupo Emperador Spain S.A., a company owned by Emperador Inc., will acquire the brandy and sherry business of Beam Suntory in Jerez.
Aside from Fundador Pedro Domecq, the acquisition includes Terry Centenario, Spain’s top-selling brandy; Tres Cepas, Equatorial Guinea’s leading brandy; and Harvey’s, the United Kingdom’s top sherry wine.
These brands carry a unique heritage and market leadership position in their respective categories, Emperador said in a statement furnished the Inquirer.
Fundador, or “founder” in Spanish, was the first brand to be marketed by Pedro Domecq Loustau in 1874. Made from Airen and Palomino grapes, Fundador was the first brand marketed as a Brandy de Jerez and is aged in a sherry-soaked Solera.
Clear leader
Today, it is Spain’s largest export brandy and is sold in more than 30 countries. Fundador’s biggest export market is the Philippines, where it has been the clear leader for more than a century.
Other acquired assets are Bodegas Fundador, Spain’s largest and oldest brandy cellar established in 1730, as well as production facilities, aging cellars, vineyards and state-of-the art blending and bottling facilities in Jerez.
Emperador will likewise take over a brandy distillery in Tomelloso, Spain, which has a sufficient aging inventory of brandy and sherry that Emperador officials believe will drive the company’s growth.
Nomura was tapped as the sole financial advisor while Allen & Overy was hired as the legal adviser for the transaction.
Read more: business.iquirer.net