BACKGROUND:A Clontarf man nurtured his drink for a quarter of a century. Now he can raise his glass
AS WITH any good bottle of whiskey, John Teeling has had to wait a long time for his investment in Cooley Distillery to mature.
Yesterday’s announcement of its $95 million (€73 million sale) to Illinois-based Beam Inc, the fourth-biggest spirits company in the world, is a culmination of 25 years of careful nurturing by the Clontarf businessman
It’s the biggest pay day by far for the 66-year-old serial entrepreneur, probably better known for his various investments in natural resources over the years.
Cooley has had a stellar year, like most Irish whiskey groups.
Sales are up about 50 per cent this year. Its pretax profit is expected to come in at €4.1 million, up from €2.5 million in 2010. The global growth of Irish whiskey has been led by Jameson, which shifted 3.4 million cases last year for Pernod Ricard. Between July and September alone, Jameson’s sales rose by 29 per cent.
Pernod Ricard wants to grow Jameson to nine million cases by 2020 and is currently investing tens of millions of euro promoting the brand worldwide.
Tullamore Dew, which is owned by William Grant & Sons in Scotland, and Bushmills, which is owned by global drinks giant Diageo, are also reporting strong double-digit sales growth.
Cooley, a small independent player with limited financial resources, has successfully piggy-backed on this global growth in Irish whiskey.
While older than Scotch, a chronic lack of investment and strategic vision over the decades has resulted in Irish whiskey operating in the shadow of its Celtic neighbour.
This is changing rapidly. About a decade ago, 250,000 cases of Irish whiskey were sold in the US.
Teeling estimates that the figure this year will be about 1.8 million and this will grow to more than three million by 2015.
“Beam will put Cooley’s brands on every shelf in the country,” he said yesterday.
“Our problem was always getting on the shelf and getting off the shelf. That required good distribution and lots of money spent on marketing.”
Beam is an industry heavyweight. It recorded sales of $2.7 billion last year and its flagship Jim Beam brand is the world’s biggest-selling bourbon.
Cooley sells to 50 countries. South Africa and Australia are other big growth markets.
It also produces about 125,000 cases a year in own-label whiskey for supermarkets and pubs.
As Beam’s focus is on branded sales, it is not clear what will happen to Cooley’s own-label business.
Teeling hinted strongly yesterday that Beam will expand Cooley’s distilling capacity and put substantial backing behind the brands, which include Kilbeggan, Tyrconnell, Connemara and Greenore.
It has distilling operations in Cooley in Co Louth and Kilbeggan in Co Westmeath, where it also runs a visitor centre attracting 40,000 customers a year.
As Teeling tells it, the future is bright. “Beam is an iconic company in America. Think what they can do for Cooley. It’s the only company I wanted to sell to.”
WHISKEY GALORE WHO SELLS WHAT*
Jameson (Pernod Ricard) 3.4 million cases
Tullamore Dew (William Grant & Sons) 650,000 cases
Bushmills (Diageo) 600,000 cases
Cooley Distillery (Beam Inc**) 425,000 cases
*Most recent full-year figures
**Acquisition pending
