Edrington Group Completes Cutty Sark Acquisition

This means that Cutty Sark, with whom Edrington has had a long and friendly relationship for over 70 years, is now a wholly-owned key brand within the group´s portfolio of Scotch whisky and golden rum brands.

6 Apr 2010 --- The Edrington Group now officially owns the Cutty Sark brand. The final legal documents were completed at the Berry Bros & Rudd offices at St James´s Street in London on April 1st.

Ian Curle, chief executive, and Richard Hunter, group finance director, signed on behalf of Edrington while Simon Berry, chairman, and Hugh Sturges, managing director, represented BB&R and Cutty Sark International, respectively.

This means that Cutty Sark, with whom Edrington has had a long and friendly relationship for over 70 years, is now a wholly-owned key brand within the group´s portfolio of Scotch whisky and golden rum brands.

Completion of the sale agreement and the brand transition is the culmination of a tight work schedule (40 working days). During that time, Edrington has renewed more than 60 distribution agreements in export markets and which account for well over 90 per cent of Cutty Sark sales. As well as developing new relationships, this process has given Edrington the opportunity to develop even closer links with some existing distributors, such as WS Karoulias in Greece, a key market for Cutty Sark. The brand also has a new distributor in Spain, Maxxium Espana, in which Edrington has a 50 per cent stake.

Scott McCroskie, who led the transition team, said: "We are ready to roll. It is amazing how much work has been completed in such a short period of time, but I am pleased to report that we are in good shape and have all the necessary systems and processes in place to help ensure that Cutty Sark achieves its maximum potential."