The Keepers aims to gain control of Spanish brandy maker

MANILA, Philippines — Retail tycoon Lucio Co is trying to gain control in a Spanish liquor company, with plans to acquire more stake in the firm that is behind Alfonso brandy.

In a stock exchange filing, the Co-led The Keepers Holdings Inc., a listed imported liquor distribution company in the Philippines, said its board has approved the plan to acquire up to 50 percent of the total shareholdings of Bodegas Williams & Humbert SA.

Bodegas Williams & Humbert is a Spanish firm with over 140 years of history producing alcoholic beverages.

It is the producer of Alfonso, the number one imported brandy in the Philippines, and which accounts for 60 percent of Keepers’ revenue.

Isla Lipana & Co. (PwC) has been tapped to render a fairness opinion on the intended transaction.

Keepers said no pricing and details have been approved yet, pending the release of PwC’s fairness opinion.

“The company will disclose more information about the transaction in due course,” it said.

Co in 2018 became a shareholder of Williams & Humbert by acquiring a “significant stake” in the company.

The entry of Co as a shareholder of the firm in 2018 was seen boosting the company´s strategic plan by consolidating its brands’ position and opening up the possibility of future investments by the winery.

Keepers has been bringing the best international brands of wines and spirits to Philippine shores for over two decades.

The company posted a 40-percent growth in its net income to P980.75 million in the first half from P702.81 million in the same period last year on the back of the strong sales performance across all its product categories.

Net sales amounted to P5.5 billion, up by 27.4 percent from P4.3 billion for the same period in 2021.

The strong growth in sales was attributed to the robust sales performance from all categories, particularly the recovering demand and consumption from the on-premise channel, as well as the gradually increasing demand from the travel retail market resulting from the easing community restrictions.

Keepers, in particular, saw strong performance of Alfonso, the leading imported brandy in the market, which has already surpassed its pre pandemic levels.