A failure by its acquirers to meet completion conditions has resulted in the “Windsor (Scotch whisky) business” returning to its previous owner, Diageo.
The UK-based group confirmed this week that the sale of the brand to a consortium comprising Bayside Private Equity and Metis Private Equity has fallen through. Initially announced in March, the transaction would have seen the blended Scotch and its South Korean operations change hands for around KRW200bn (then-US$163.7m).
At the current exchange rate, the sale would have had a value of $140.2m.
According to Diageo, the aborted divestment, part of the group’s “active portfolio management”, “is a result of Bayside/Metis being unable to meet certain conditions for completion which formed part of the sales agreement”. Consequently, Windsor will remain under the brand owner’s control, albeit as a separate unit to Diageo Korea.
Among the other brands deemed surplus to requirements in recent months are peach schnapps Archers, sold to De Kuyper Royal Distillers this month, and French liqueur Picon, now part of Campari Group’s portfolio.
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