Distillery business Waterford Whisky has been sold to Tennessee Distilling Group for a fee understood to be in the region of €6 million.
Joint receivers Mark Degnan and Darryl McKenna from Interpath have agreed the sale of the group’s core assets, which include the Waterford Distillery, the Waterford Whisky brand portfolio, and all associated intellectual property.
Although the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, The Irish Times understands the deal is worth in the region of €6 million. The process will be complete within the coming weeks following regulatory requirements.
The receivers were appointed to the business founded by industry veteran Mark Reynier late last year after it failed to raise fresh funds.
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The receivership, which was a consensual appointment, was the culmination of several weeks of efforts by the company and its main lender HSBC bank to put in place a turnaround plan for the business.
[ Distillery calls in receivers as it fails to raise fresh fundingOpens in new window ]
Interpath said Tennessee Distilling Group plans to “invest significantly” in the distillery, as well as strengthen operations and grow the team in Waterford.
“The group brings comprehensive technical capabilities and experience from its established heritage in the United States, which also includes an extensive global reach,” it said.
“The investment will support long-term stability for the distillery, create new jobs in the region, expand its role in the local economy and open up new international markets.”
The most recent accounts for Waterford Whisky, filed with its parent company in the UK, show it had sales of €3 million in 2022, down from €3.3 million the year before.
The accounts at the time blamed the €300,000 drop in revenue on its choice of distribution partner in the US. The accounts also showed the company had accumulated losses of €7.7 million, and that it had €40.1 million worth of whiskey stocks.
Reynier is a former wine seller who, in 2000, bought and revived the Scotch whisky brand Bruichladdich by putting together a consortium of investors to put funds into the mothballed distillery.
He grew the sales of the brand from zero to about €15 million, before it was bought out by drinks giant Rémy Cointreau in 2012 for £58 million (€67.1 million).
In 2015, he bought Diageo’s former brewery in Co Waterford with the aim of creating a new Irish whiskey based on the concept of terroir – a wine industry term that relates to the different kinds of soil in which grapes are grown and how it influences the final flavour of the wine.
Interpath managing director Mark Degnan said the future of the distillery had been “secured”, delivering a “positive outcome for the business and its stakeholders”.
“This investment from Tennessee Distilling Group provides a clear platform for future growth and represents a strong commitment to both the Waterford brand, the local economy and the wider Irish whiskey sector,” he added.
