Management buyout at Innis & Gunn

January 29, 2008: Dougal Sharp has successfully completed a management buyout of the Innis & Gunn Brewing Company, acquiring independent family distillers William Grant & Sons Ltd's majority stake in the brewer.

The company was formed in 2003 as a joint venture between Mr Sharp and the independent family distiller, following the surprise discovery of a new maturation technique for beer.

Mr Sharp will remain at the head of the company as managing director, with his father, Russell Sharp, who founded the Caledonian Brewery, in Edinburgh, joining as a director. The deal has been supported by Bank of Scotland Corporate, with accounting and legal support provided by Grant Thornton and DLA Piper Scotland.

Both parties are delighted with the deal in which William Grant & Sons will continue to provide oak maturation services to the brewer for an agreed period of time.

Dougal Sharp said: "We are very pleased to have concluded the acquisition. William Grant & Sons could not have been more supportive from day one, and we have bought the business at a time of impressive growth both at home and overseas.

"Speciality beers like Innis & Gunn are growing in all the major beer markets globally, and given the brand is only available in a few of those markets the opportunity for continued growth is clear.

"We aim to set up an office in Edinburgh — we already have the staff recruited — and we intend to continue to outsource the brewing and bottling of Innis & Gunn to Belhaven Brewery, with whom we have worked for four years now and have an excellent relationship."

Roland van Bommel, chief executive of William Grant & Sons, added: "This is a natural next step in the development of Innis & Gunn, and is the fruition of our shared plan from the very outset of the venture.

"We have worked closely with Dougal in developing the brand in its key markets, where it has proved to be very successful. We are delighted that he has now acquired the business and wish him and the team every success for the future."

Innis & Gunn Oak Aged beer was developed by Mr Sharp in 2003 using a revolutionary technique of ageing beers in oak. The American white oak barrels infuse Innis & Gunn's Original Oak Aged Beer with flavours and aromas including toffee, vanilla and citrus, in a unique maturation process that takes 77 days in total (ten times the national average for ales).

This new category has managed to attract many new drinkers to beer both in the UK and across its six major export markets (Canada, USA, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland).

Innis & Gunn has been championing the speciality beer category, which is currently seeing strong growth. Within only four years, Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer has become available in all major UK supermarkets.

During this time the beer has also won a number of awards including being named the supreme champion beer in the International Beer Competition and winning Grand Gold at last year's Monde Selection Awards in Brussels.