Bulmers owner C&C Group said it bought Scottish beer brand Innis & Gunn brand from administration for £4.5 million (€5.2 million).
“C&C had already been a key brewing partner and distributor for the brand and held a 8 per cent stake in the business,” said Patrick Higgins, an analyst with Goodbody Stockbrokers.
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“Integration is expected to be rapid with minimal disruption to operations. The formal addition of the brand to the portfolio should help to build-out C&C’s Branded premium beer and innovation activities.”
In the year to March 2025, the Innis & Gun brand beer operations generated £19.1 million sales, three quarters of which came from the UK. It was marginally break-even at operating profits level, according to the analyst.
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C&C already owns Tennent’s, the No 1 selling beer in Scotland.
“We have worked with Innis & Gunn for many years and whilst it’s under difficult circumstances, we are delighted to bring the brand fully into our portfolio,” said Roger White, chief executive of C&C. “This is a compelling and highly synergistic opportunity to save a well-loved brand for which we currently brew most of the product.”
He said that the Irish group expects the deal to make a small positive contribution to our overall financial performance in its current financial year, which started last week.
C&C said that the integration of Innis & Gunn into the group is expected to present “a very low execution risk” and that its board “anticipates a rapid operational transition and minimal disruption to the business”.
The group intends to develop the Innis & Gunn brand utilising its established production capability, routes to market, and infrastructure, leveraging existing capabilities to unlock brand value with minimal requirement for incremental overhead or capital investment, it said.
“Following the announced sale of BrewDog to Canada-based Tilray earlier this week for £33 million, this is a sign of further consolidation in the UK craft alcohol market following several years of headwinds relating to higher input prices (eg energy, labour), cost-of-living pressures on affordability and changing consumer trends,” said Higgins.
C&C’s own share have fallen by more than a third in London over the past six months, driven by weak consumer confidence stemming from the UK budget in November, mainly affecting its drinks distribution business Matthew Clark Bibendum, and a profit warning in January.
