Date: December 5, 2016
Publication: mb.com.ph
Link: http://news.mb.com.ph/2016/12/05/emperadors-landmark-buyout-in-latin-america-a-milestone-for-ph/

Already the world’s biggest brandy producer, tycoon Dr. Andrew Tan’s global liquor company Emperador, Inc. brings more pride to the Philippines as it has just conquered Latin America after making its presence felt in the United Kingdom and Spain.

Emperador announced that it has purchased through its Spanish subsidiary Bodegas Las Copas as part of its aggressive global expansion.

“This is a very significant milestone not just for Emperador but also for the Philippines,” said Tan who is the Chairman of the Board of Emperador.

ANOTHER MILESTONE – Already considered the world’s biggest brandy producer, tycoon Dr. Andrew Tan achieved another milestone after his global liquor company Emperador, Inc. acquired Mexico’s top-selling brandy brands that will add Latin America to its already strong presence in the brandy markets in the United Kingdom and Spain. (Manila Bulletin)

Emperador President Winston Co added that “this recent acquisition fits perfectly with our strategy to fortify Emperador’s status as the no.1 brandy company in the world.”

The landmark buyout includes Mexican brandy brands Presidente, known to be Mexico’s No. 1 selling brandy, Azteca de Oro and Don Pedro.

This gives Emperador access to the brandy market in Latin America, particularly Mexico where the Domecq brandies take half of the entire brandy market.

“The entry into Mexico will strengthen Emperador brandy’s global position through Presidente brandy, which is Mexico’s No. 1 locally produced brandy,” noted COL Financial Group Senior Analyst Richard Lañeda.

The transaction includes the brand portfolio of Mexican brandies as well as the winery related to the production of Mexican wines in Ensenada, together with the relevant inventories related to the Domecq brands in several markets, including Spain, United States, Belgium and the Netherlands, among others.

The disposal is in line with Pernod Ricard’s strategy to simplify its portfolio for growth and focus on its priority spirits and wines brands. It also reinforces the presence of Bodega Las Copas in the global brandy category.

Last February, Emperador also completed the purchase of the brandy and sherry businesses of Beam Spain, S.L., which include four iconic brands – Fundador, the oldest and largest Spanish brandy in the world; Terry Centenario, the No. 1 brandy in Spain; Tres Cepas, the largest selling brandy in Equatorial Guinea; and Harveys, the No. 1 selling sherry wine in the world.

Emperador also operates a global Scotch whisky business, which it bought in 2014. Whyte and Mackay has a rich heritage of Scottish spirits, which is the fifth largest Scotch whisky manufacturer in the United Kingdom with prestigious brands like The Dalmore, Jura Single Malt Whisky, Mackinlay’s Shackleton Malt Whisky, Whyte & Mackay Scotch Whisky, Vladivar Vodka, among others.

Also in 2014, Emperador invested P3.7 billion ($60 million) to acquire a 50 percent stake in a second fully-integrated brandy production company from González Byass.

Emperador said its subsidiary Grupo Emperador Spain and González Byass S.A. have reached an agreement for Grupo Emperador to invest in Bodega Las Copas S. L.

Bodega Las Copas’ operations in brandy-making run the full scale with its 275-hectare vineyard near Toledo, its distillery plant in Tomelloso, Ciudad Real, and its Las Copas brandy production premises in Jerez.

Emperador also invested P5.8 billion in Spain as part of a strategy to build Emperador as a strong global brandy brand. In 2013, it bought 100 percent of Bodega San Bruno S.A., a brandy company based in Jerez, Spain also from González Byass S.A.

The acquisition included the SAN BRUNO trademark, which has been registered since 1942. It also comprises vineyards in Jerez, the brandy-producing region of Spain, as well as a sizable inventory of high-quality and well-matured brandy, now being stored and aged in sherry casks in the bodegas, or wineries, in Jerez.

Bodega Las Copas results from the agreement of Grupo Emperador Spain and González Byass to jointly distill wine and produce brandy and other quality spirits in Spain. González Byass is a family winery dedicated to the making of quality wines and spirits, founded in Jerez in 1835.

Pernod Ricard is the world’s No. 2 in wines and spirits with consolidated Sales of $8.68 billion in 2015/16. Created in 1975 by the merger of Ricard and Pernod, the Group has undergone sustained development, based on both organic growth and acquisitions.