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Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya-promoted United Spirits today said it had acquired Scottish whiskey maker Whyte & Mackay for 595 million pounds (nearly Rs 4,819 crore).
The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it had acquired 100 per cent of Whyte and Mackay.
"The potential for premium Scotch whiskey in India is enormous and, with the acquisition of Whyte and Mackay, we now have a strong portfolio of international recognised brands that we will immediately introduce into the Indian market and use our strong distribution muscle fully to our advantage," United Spirits Chairman Vijay Mallya said.
United Spirits will have access to global distribution and can look forward to exporting brands from India, he said.
W&M has popular brands liked Whyte & Mackay Scotch Whiskey, Highland Malt, Isle of Juara Malt Whiskey, Glayva Liquer and Dalmore Single Highland Malt, John Barr, Mackinlays, Cluny and Claymore.
The Scottish whiskey maker had recorded a sales of nine million cases in the last 12 months and sales of 66 million cases for the year ended March 31, it said, adding W&M has a bulk Scotch inventories of 115 million litres.
It has four different malt whiskey distilleries in Scotland with another state-of-art bottling facility in Grangemouth.
With this acquisition, United Spirits will have consolidated sales of 75 million cases per annum, it added.
The company said finance for the acquisition was arranged and provided by ICICI Bank and Citibank, and they were advised by UBS, ICICI Bank and Standard Chartered.
Citigroup was the adviser of Whyte & Mackay in the deal.
This is the latest in a series of acquisitions that the UB Group had undertaken in recent years, including that of Shaw Wallace for Rs 1,300 crore in 2005, and more recently French winemaker Bouvet Ladubay, a subsidiary of Champagne Taittinger, for 15 million dollars last year.
About Whyte and Mackay
Introduction
Founded on the docks of Glasgow in 1844, Whyte & Mackay has remained true to itself and its founders James Whyte and Charles Mackay's pioneering spirit for over 160 years.
Today, when the traditional masculine values of pride, integrity and style are often forfeited in favour of profit, expediency and celebrity, Whyte & Mackay Blended Scotch Whisky remains the No.1 choice of Scots, who appreciate its rich, smooth flavour, achieved by maintaining the time-honoured Double Marriage Blending process, something that all Scotch whisky distillers did before accountants took over the world.
From Glasgow’s proud ship building traditions, to its achievements in the arts & crafts, sport and scientific invention, ‘Clyde built’ has long been synonymous with quality and authenticity. Whyte & Mackay is proud of its Glasgow roots and our famous “double lion” symbol, with us from the beginning and recognisable the world over, remains the sign of the very best in blended Scotch whisky.
By the late 19th century Glasgow was famous for its ship building, pioneering its craft all over the world. It was at this time that James Whyte and Charles Mackay began to marry the best whiskies of Scotland with the intention of creating the smoothest and most distinctive blend of scotch whisky
Most of Scotland was drinking cognac at the time and it was considered a bold move to invest in whisky, but Mr Whyte and Mr Mackay had the confidence to follow their beliefs. Taking over 35 specially selected malts, from the four whisky regions of Scotland, they blended them together to form a distinctive “Special” whisky.
DOUBLE MARRIAGEWorking on the philosophy of ‘all good things come to those who wait’, Whyte & Mackay used a double marriage process in the blending of their whisky, the same process that is still used to this very day.
Most distillers settle for one maturation, only Whyte & Mackay is double matured to ensure a beautifully balanced blend.
First, the single malts are ‘married’ together and held in sherry butts for several months. Then this ‘vatted malt’ is mixed with up to six different grain whiskies and returned to another set of sherry butts to mature until perfection.
This unique process not only guarantees a smooth, mellow and distinctive character but more importantly guarantees consistency, accounting for every drop of Whyte & Mackay tasting as good as the first.
Whilst our basic ingredients are simple – malted barley, yeast, pure spring water – it is our award winning Master Blender, Richard Paterson’s skill and the care taken throughout the long period of double maturation that makes Whyte & Mackay “Special”.
DOUBLE LION BRAND
Since the very beginning, the iconic symbol of Whyte & Mackay has been the double lions. By an act of the privy council in 1603, all in Scotland who had the name of Macgregor were compelled, on pain of death, to adopt another surname. During this time many of the Clan assumed the name Whyte. As a mark of respect to the Macgregor/Whyte Clan, the founders of Whyte & Mackay took the lion from the Macgregor crest as their emblem. They then added to this the Lion Rampant of Scotland, evoking loyalty and strength to the heritage of Scotland. In more recent years the double lions are also said to be a tribute to the double marriage process that makes Whyte & Mackay whisky so special and to its two founders.
ADDITIONAL YEAR OF MATURATIONMost distillers settle for one maturation, we insist on two.
We also believe you can’t hurry love. At a point when most other distillers bottle their aged blends, Whyte & Mackay’s Master Blender returns them to sherry casks to marry for another year to create a deep mellow smoothness.
Our selected 13, 19 and 22 year old blends are ‘over aged’ by this additional year to produce a new standard in the industry. What a difference a year makes.
Awards
Whyte & Mackay Master Blender Richard Paterson has worked with the company since 1970. Third generation in a family which has long been established within the Scotch Whisky industry, Richard started honing his craft from the age of 17, working as a general production assistant at a whisky blending and exporting company. Having perfected the age old double marriage process, Richard is no stranger to success and is regarded as one of the foremost whisky experts in the world.
As well as the numerous personal accolades acknowledging his pre-eminence in the whisky industry, Richard has also proven instrumental in Whyte & Mackay being awarded the following honours:
Whyte & Mackay 12 years old has won Gold in the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) twice, once in 2002 and again in 2004.
Whyte & Mackay 21 years old won has won gold three times in the IWSC competition (2001, 2004 and 2005)
Whyte & Mackay 21 years old won the top accolade at the whisky Cigar Festival held in Havana, Cuba in 2003
Whyte & Mackay 30 years old picked up the gold medal and the overall competition trophy in the 2001 ISWC.
Whyte & Mackay 30 years old and the Don Ramos cigar were named the ultimate whisky and cigar pairing at the World Whisky and Cigar Challenge in 2006.
Glassgow Roots
The success of Whyte & Mackay is rooted in the personality of its home, the great city of Glasgow. Together they rose from rags to riches through a combination of pride, integrity and style. As the Industrial Revolution took hold at the start of the 19th century, Glasgow’s new industrialists were expanding their manufacturing bases, particularly in soap-making, distilling, glass-making, sugar and textiles. Textile production used coal in the steam-driven cotton mills and power-loom factories. Other industries included bleaching, dyeing and fabric printing.
Glasgow’s population was also increasing dramatically, as dispossessed immigrants from the Highlands in the 1820s and thousands fleeing from the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840s provided a vast pool of cheap, unskilled labour. With its growing industrial importance Glasgow also attracted large numbers of other immigrants, in particular Jewish, Italian and East European, who contributed greatly to the economy and local community.
At its height, the cotton industry employed almost one third of Glasgow’s huge workforce, but like the tobacco industry it was badly hit by external factors, especially the American Civil War of 1861, and, closer to home, increasingly tough competition from cities such as Manchester.
Ever resourceful, Glasgow turned to a wide range of heavy industries, especially shipbuilding, locomotive construction, and engineering, which could thrive on the abundant supplies of iron ore and seams of Lanarkshire coal to fuel the ironworks. From 1870 until the start of the First World War Glasgow produced almost one fifth of the world’s ships.
These were heady days, in which Glasgow ranked as one of the finest and richest cities in Europe and acclaimed as a model of organised industrial society. Grand public buildings and a host of museums, galleries and libraries were built. Glasgow had more parks and open spaces than any other similar European city, along with a regulated telephone system, water and gas supplies. Little wonder that Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote in 1857: “I am inclined to think that Glasgow is the stateliest city I ever beheld.”
Glasgow’s pride in these great achievements was openly displayed in two Great Exhibitions of 1888 and 1901, both held in Kelvingrove Park. Glasgow was now unquestionably the “Second City of the Empire”.
Our HistoryWhyte & Mackay's 'Double Lion' blend has its origins in the Glasgow firm of Allan & Poynter, founded in November 1843 by John Poynter, a successful chemical manufacturer, and William Allan, a ham curer. The firm was originally to warehouse dry goods for the grocery trade. In the course of time the business changed hands and the new owner, William Scott recruited two young men to help him in the business, James Whyte and Charles Mackay.
By the end of the 1870's the firm was warehousing more and more whisky as wine and spirit merchants sought a substitute for brandies made unavailable by phylloxera. When William Scott died his widow sold the business to James Whyte and Charles Mackay. One of the conditions of the sale was that they were not to use the name Allan & Poynter and the firm was renamed Whyte & Mackay. The young partners had no doubt that if they were to make a success of the venture they had to invest in whisky blending plant as soon as possible. It took two years to find and equip suitable premises in Robertson Lane, Glasgow. They received their first consignment of grain and malt whiskies and began blending to customers' orders. they later began blending on their own account for the export trade. No sooner had the partners taken this decision than whisky sales collapsed. They managed to weather the crises at the beginning of the 20th century, even expanding sales of their Whyte & Mackay whisky on the eve of the First World War.
In 1919 a limited company was formed and the indications are that the intention was to place the company on a care and maintenance basis until the future of the trade could be predicted with more certainty after the wartime depredations. Charles Mackay died in 1919 and John Whyte in 1921. For small concerns like Whyte & Mackay the going was rough in the 1920s and the firm was reconstructed in 1926 to reduce its capital stock levels. Trade began to pick up in the late 1920s with a resurgence of export orders, particularly from North America. This proved short-lived and assessments of the potential of the United States market after the end of prohibition were hopelessly optimistic. Eventually trade revived in the late 1930s with a growth in exports to Australia and New Zealand.
Again prospects were dimmed by the outbreak of war. It was not until the 1950's, under the direction of James Whyte's two sons, Hartley and Alex, that the recovery was sustained with a determined advertising campaign. With the end of voluntary rationing on the home market, Whyte & Mackay began to build its sales in the United Kingdom. In 1960 the company acquired Dalmore distillery in the north-east of Scotland and was renamed Dalmore, Whyte & Mackay. By 1965 Whyte & Mackay was the fifth most popular brand in Scotland. This achievement was followed by a successful redoubling of efforts in export markets.
The company became part of Sir Hugh Fraser's SUITS group in 1971. Two years later Tomintoul and Fettercairn distilleries were purchased. SUITS was acquired by Lonrho in 1981 and subsequently Whyte & Mackay was sold to Brent Walker in 1988 and then to American Brands (now Fortune Brands) in 1990. In 2001 Fortune Brands sold Whyte & Mackay to 'Kyndal' in a £200 million management buyout backed by German investment bank, WestLB. In February 2005, Vivien Immerman bought Whyte & Mackay from WestLB and embarked on a long term investment programme to ensure the continued international success of Whyte & Mackay. During 2006, in a dramatic display of confidence, Whyte & Mackay was relaunched with a new look inspired by its proud Glasgow heritage. The famous double lions rampant once more took centre stage, resuming their rightful place as iconic sybol of the brand and company. The new look incorporated a 'Charles Rennie Mackintosh' feel in tribute to Glasgow's stylish nature. The original Whyte & Mackay blend was renamed "SPECIAL", as it was at the very beginning of Whyte & Mackay. In addition, 13, 19 and 22 years old aged blends with an extra year of maturation were added to the brand's award winning range. Whyte & Mackay went "back to the future" to rediscover its proud Glasgow roots in stylish, masculine packaging which truly reflects the quality of scotch in the bottle.
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