This is something to discuss over shots of brandy.
Andrew Tan’s Emperador Distillers has bought Whyte & Mackay, a Scotch whisky distiller based in Scotland, for 430 million English pounds, reports The Guardian. Britain’s Office of Fair Trading had ordered its previous owners to sell the brand to prevent “a substantial lessening” in competition.
The owners, India’s United Spirits, is controlled by liquor company Diageo, which manufactures the whisky brand Bell’s. Having Diageo own both Whyte & Mackay and Bell’s could potentially manipulate the prices of blended whiskey in the UK—horror of horrors!
It’s not the first time Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global Group, owners of Emperador Distillers, has done business with Diageo.
“Earlier this year, [Emperador Distillers] announced a partnership deal with Diageo to bring world-class iconic brands to the growing local market. In 2012, AGI purchased Diageo’s production facilities in Laguna,” reports Doris Dumlao in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
