Whiskey Buddy owner looking for a new home for the brand

It is understood that the owner of Paddy Irish Whiskey Sazerac, one of the largest producers of distilled spirits in North America, is looking to develop a new home for the spirit.

It is understood that Sazerac, which owns more than 450 brands worldwide, including Southern Comfort whiskey, Fireball whiskey and Buffalo Trace bourbon, has approached distilleries in Ireland with the goal of either forming a joint venture or acquiring a distillery to create a home for the brand. Paddy’s commercial.

It is further understood that the New Orleans-based company has also considered building a distillery.

Sasrak said she did not wish to comment.

In 2016, Sazerac acquired the Paddy Irish Whiskey brand from industry giant Irish Distillers, which produces Jameson, for an undisclosed amount. Documents filed with the Companies Registry Office indicated Irish Distillers would receive €90 million from the sale.

Under the agreement, Irish Distillers will continue to produce Paddy Irish Whiskey at its Midleton Distillery plant in Co Cork under a long-term supply agreement with « no impact on roles at Irish Distillers » and all employees who retain their positions under the « Current Terms and Conditions ».

At the time of the acquisition in 2016, Paddy Irish Whiskey was the fourth largest selling Irish whiskey brand globally, with sales of nearly 200,000 nine-liter cans.

In 2018, Sazerac’s subsidiary Hi-Spirits acquired distribution in Ireland of Paddy Irish Whiskey from Irish Distillers.

An industry source said most brands in the sector, such as Sazerac, would be keen to develop their own distillery.

The source added that they believe Sazerac will be looking for a reasonably large distillery as it may aspire to become a brand that sells half a million cans. they said He said there was a great deal of interest abroad in Irish whiskey, adding that Sazerac’s move to find a new location for Paddy would make sense.

Another source said they were aware of Sazerac’s interest in either forming a joint venture with a whiskey distillery or building one from scratch.

According to the latest accounts of Sazerac’s Irish subsidiary, Sazerac reported a profit after tax of more than 1.4 million euros in the year to the end of June 2020, down from approximately 3.3 million euros. In addition, it reported a sales volume of over 18.3 million euros, down from around 22.7 million euros.

At the end of its fiscal year, Irish company Sazerac had assets of approximately €172.8 million, up from €95.3 million in 2019, and liabilities of just over €15.8 million.

The board’s report said it increased its net assets by 1.3 million euros.

Accounts for Paddy Whiskey, which manufactures and sells the brand, show that the company retained earnings of more than 2.1 million euros at the end of June 2020. This was up from retained earnings of around 1.2 million euros at the end of the previous fiscal year.

Paddy Irish Whiskey and Sazerac of Ireland both applied to re-register as private unlimited companies in June.