SOFIA (Bulgaria), October 1 (SeeNews) – UK-based vodka producer Stock Spirits plans to use part of the proceeds from its upcoming fund-raiser to acquire spirits producers in eastern Europe including Bulgaria, Serbia and Ukraine, the company’s CEO said as quoted by Reuters.
Stock Spirits plans to become a leader on the central and eastern European spirits market, the company said last year when it acquired major Slovak spirits producer Imperator. Apart from Slovakia, the vodka maker is already operating in the Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
You can subscribe to our M&A newsletter here
The target countries have three to four producers which dominate the market with 50% to 70% share. By acquiring some of them Stock Spitrits can expand further in the region, CEO Christopher Heath noted, adding that a buy in eastern Europe will cost between 30 million euros ($40.6 million) and 60 million euros.
The company plans to position itself in the price bracket between quality domestic brands and top global lines and to anglicise its brands to reach English-speaking countries.
Spirits consumption in the markets where Stock Spirits plans to enter equalled 38 billion shots in 2012.
The company plans to raise 52 million British pounds on the London Stock Exchange through an initial public offering (IPO) in October. Stock Spirits was set up in 2008 when Oaktree Capital Management merged Czech Republic’s Eckes & Stock with Poland’s Polmos Lublin. In 2012 it recorded a profit of 68.8 million euro, up 6.8% year-on-year.
($=0.738 euro)