Stock Spirits agrees £767m takeover with CVC Funds

Private equity and investment firm CVC Funds has agreed to purchase vodka producer Stock Spirits in a deal worth £767 million (US$1.1 billion).

The cash offer for Stock Spirits values the firm at around £3.77 (US%5.23) per share. This represents a premium of 41% on the closing price of £2.68 (US$3.72) per Stock Spirits share at the close of business on 11 August 2021.

The purchase is expected to be completed between early December this year and early January 2022.

David Maloney, chairman of Stock Spirits, said: “The directors of Stock Spirits are confident in the long-term prospects of the Stock Spirits Group and believe that the offer reflects our strong position and represents compelling value for Stock Spirits shareholders.

“Stock Spirits continues to deliver an extremely resilient performance and has an even more loyal and engaged consumer base for its outstanding brands.

“We believe that CVC’s support for our existing strategy and the investment that it intends to make in order to grow our business means that this offer will benefit all of Stock Spirits’ stakeholders. We are therefore unanimously recommending the offer to Stock Spirits shareholders.”

Prestige vodka owner Stock Spirits reported a ‘strong’ off-trade performance during the first quarter of its 2020/21 fiscal year. However, revenue declined by 3.3% in the six months ending 31 March 2021 because of the closure of the on-trade in the Czech Republic.

István Szöke, managing partner at CVC Funds, said: “Stock Spirits is a high-quality business with strong brands, established market positions and significant growth potential and we are delighted that our proposal has been recommended by the Stock Spirits directors.

“CVC Funds are a long-standing investor in Central and Eastern Europe and we look forward to working with Stock Spirits management team to help drive its continued development, both by supporting the existing strategy and by investing in inorganic growth opportunities.”