Mallya in bid to take over Whyte & Mackay's Scottish distillery
By Our Corporate Bureau | 10 Oct 2006
Whyte & Mackay, which makes the Jura and Dalmore single malt whiskies, Vladivar Vodka and Glavya liqueur, is an ideal partner for United Breweries (UB) which dominates the Indian spirits market, the world's largest for whisky. The UK company is also the world's third biggest shipper of spirits after Pernod Ricard and Diageo.
There is an increasing demand for expensive imported whisky brands in India but Scotch whisky has only a one per cent foothold in the Indian market because of the high tariff levels. The UK company also has a large stock of aged single-malt whisky, which could be blended with Indian-produced whisky to improve its authenticity and flavour.
Reports, meanwhile, said Whyte & Mackay may not sell off the entire company and that it will only exit from its private label business. The company's private label business — Invergordon — which currently owns one of the largest grain-based distilleries, was put on the block for sometime now.
Imerman also said the company has "received offers for part of the business" and that it is evaluating all strategic options.
United Spirits, the spirit company of the Vijay Mallya's UB Group, had made a bid to acquire Invergordon, from Whyte & Mackay in June this year, at a price of around Rs 1,800 crore (£200 million). Sources said the world's second-largest drinks company, Diageo, and some other European firms are also in the race for Invergordon.
Invergordon distillery, based in Cromarty, northern Scotland, is the largest grain distillery in Europe. UB's bid for Invergordon is aimed at beating European Scotch maker's opposition to permit UB's molasses-based whiskey products and get a foothold in the European markets.
