Advising Lalique Group SA on the acquisition of the Glenturret distillery

The Glenturret is the world’s oldest working single malt Scotch whisky distillery. The transaction involved the acquisition by the buyer of an historic and iconic premium whisky brand, complementing its existing portfolio of international luxury products and brands. It represented a significant inward investment in one of Scotland’s key industries. We handled all aspects of this complex deal, demonstrating in-depth sector knowledge and co-ordinating specialist input on regulatory, corporate tax, employment, real estate and commercial contracts issues.

Key highlights

• International matter with the buyer listed on the Swiss stock exchange
• Client is a niche player in the creation, development, marketing and worldwide distribution of luxury goods
• In-depth Food & Drink sector knowledge required
• Deal represented significant inward investment in one of Scotland's key industries

Outcome

The transaction involved the acquisition by the buyer of an historic and iconic premium whisky brand from Highland Distillers (part of the Edrington Group) by way of a share acquisition through a joint venture vehicle.

Our client, while being a leader in the luxury goods sector, had little knowledge of the whisky industry. This required us to quickly demonstrate sector expertise and help educate the client on key commercial issues through the due diligence process.

This was a complex acquisition conducted against the background of a very competitive auction process. Our role involved helping the client successfully navigate through that process to become the preferred bidder, providing commercial and pragmatic advice along the way. The deal structure preferred by our client required a pre-sale hive-out of the business, with a lengthy gap period between exchange and completion of the main SPA. It effectively involved two transactions with many technical issues such as conditionality, gap period provisions and transitional arrangements. There were also significant regulatory and licensing hurdles to be overcome against rigid timetables.

We handled all aspects of this complex acquisition, demonstrating in-depth sector knowledge and co-ordinating specialist input on regulatory, corporate tax, employment, real estate and commercial contracts issues. The deal process required an ability to project manage multi-disciplinary teams across several practice areas, and efficiently deliver our advice often dealing with many time zones.

If you would like to find out more about how we can help you, please get in touch with Neil Burgess.