Ashley Rountree 2019: the Year in Review - a Banker's Perspective
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UP FRONT/FINANCE TRENOS Ashley Rountree 2019: the year in review - a banker's perspective ast year was a busy one for mergers and Pemod is on a tear... acquisitions in spirits, with a lot of the big boys Pernod Ricard was the industry's hyperactive child this Lactive in the market. Bacardi, Pernod Ricard, Rémy year, with fivesignificant acquisitions acrossthe board. Cointreau, Brown-Forman, Campari,Heaven Hill and E&J The officialline fromcorporate is that Alexandre Ricard Gallo ali made acquisitions during the year. While 2019 is moving ahead as expected with the 'Transform& was mostly about gins and whiskies (including Bourbon), Accelerate' plan for the group. Unofficially,the arrival of Campari bought Trois Rivieres, a rhum agricole - not a Elliott Management <loesseem to be having the desired category that usually draws a lot of deals. effectof pushing on the throttle. In addition to the two gin acquisitions noted (Malfy It's (still) raining gin ... and Inverroche), Pernod Ricard last year acquired You will remember that 2018 was already the 'year Rabbit Hole Whiskey and TX Whiskey, craft Bourbons of the gin', with transactions on Martín Miller's, and whiskey to join Smooth Ambler, and Castle Brands, Puerto de Indias, Ungava and Aviationgins. This year which includes Jefferson's Bourbon, as well as Goslings was furtherproof - if any was needed - that we are rum and ginger beer, a couple of Irish whiskies in having a gin moment. Knappogue Castle and Clontarf, Pallini limoncello, and Four very visible early stage gin brands traded in a few others. Perella Weinberg, improbably, had been 2019. Brown-Forman picked up Ford's Gin. Ford's is hawking Castle Brands for over two years without the most successfulbrand in the portfolioSimon findinga buyer, until Pernod changed its mind and Ford launched in 2012 under the name the 86 Co. stepped up. At less than 3x revenues, Castle Brands targeting bartenders, with the help and input of the looks cheap. But the group is a hodgepodge of brands, founders of New York's Employees Only speakeasy. distribution rights, cross-party agreements, and a mix Ford's is made at Thames Distillers in London and of spirits and ginger beer. bilis itself as 'the cocktail gin', very mixable and aimed squarely at the speed rail in high-end and trendy Sometimes marriage looks a lot like divorce... saloons. The bottle is ergonomically designed to please Also in 2019, Bacardi acquired Stillhouse. The founder bartenders, with a long neck and middle grip coupled Brad Beckerman, who made the leap fromclothing with a simple screwtop cap. Brown-Forman will be design to a very successfuland disruptive innovation looking to take the brand to the next level, principally in spirits, was the first to put quality whiskey into in the US market. what looks like a turpentine can. Sized like a hip flask, Pernod Ricard also brought two new gins into the the package and the brand found a proud partner in foldthis year: Malfy, the Mediterranean wonderchild G-Eazy, the rapper-composer out of Oakland. of Elwyn Gladstone, and Inverroche, the South As the story goes, Beckerman was given two minutes Africanstar created by Loma Scott seven years ago. to pitch the brand to a tablefulof executives at When Mark Teasdale traded in his position as CEO Walmart. He stood up, grabbed a tire engine red can of Proximo Spirits last year to join his old colleague of Stillhouse Whiskey offthe table and dropped it to Elwyn Gladstone in a small startup, industry observers the concrete floor. Beforethe echo of the can had expected that there would be more news to come. subsided, Walmart had signed up for 1,000 cases. Indeed, barely a year later, Pernod Ricard emerged as Bacardi was a minority investor in the brand, but the winner in a discreet but competitive bidding war somewhere along the line the relationship with forMalfy. Pernod now has one of the most impressive Beckerman grew testy. Depending on whom you gin stables in the business, as Malfy and Inverroche believe, either Bacardi was not delivering enough have joined Monkey 47, Ungava and Plymouth, not to support, or Beckerman was not delivering enough mention Beefeater and Seagram's. results. By March of last year, Beckerman was suing It is rumored that Pernod Ricard would have liked Bacardi for $100m. In November, Bacardi acquired the to have bought Four Pillars too, but that went to Kirin brand and the suit was dropped. Beckerman will be Beer via its Australian subsidiary Lion Pty Limited. following other pursuits... Created in 2013 by Stuart Gregor and Cameron McKenzie - a wine guy and a marketing guy - the • With 30 years of M&A experience,Ashley Rountree brand has taken Australia by storm with its high-quality is managing partner at investment banking and asset liquid and bottle that has 'craft' written all over it. management ftrmAlantra andheads its beverage sector. os I global drlnks lntel. 1 JANUARY 2020 .