LAKES DISTILLERY TO BE ACQUIRED BY NYETIMBER

One of our favourite English distilleries, The Lakes Distillery have received an acquisition offer that values the business at £71 million. 

The offer comes from Nyetimber, the leading producer of English sparkling wine, with the proposed deal valuing The Lakes share capital at roughly £46 million. 

After receiving a £9 million cash injection and developing the site over 3 years into a meticulously restored 1850’s Victorian farm, the Lakes Distillery finally emerged in December 2014 in beautiful surroundings. Since then they have gone on to raise and inject £30 million into the business. 

The Lakes have a clear mission – to product premium, award winning spirits (their portfolio includes gin, vodka and whisky) and they have a 10 year plan to grab 1% of the global luxury dark spirits market by 2030. The sale to Nyetimber allows them to continue with their mission. 

Having looked to different avenues for additional funding which proved to be difficult, the acquisition offer by Nyetimber proved to be the best option. The directors feel that the offer is fair and they will be asking shareholders to vote in favour of the deal. As part of the offer additional funding of £10 million over the next 3 years will also be provided.

The deal works very well for Nyetimber, with their own goal of creating a globally relevant English luxury alcohol group and the deal should complete before the end of Q2 2024.