Tilaknagar Industries buys out IFB Agro’s spirits business

Bangalore-based Tilaknagar Industries Ltd (TI), best known for its Mansion House and Courrier Napoleon brandies, has acquired the complete spirits business of Kolkata based IFB Agro.

The boards of the two companies have approved the acquisition, paving the way for transfer of all the spirit brands from IFB Agro's portfolio to TI.

With this, TI has brought into its fold IFB Agro's Volga vodka and Blue Lagoon gin - two brands popular in the eastern Indian markets of West Bengal, Assam and Odisha.

The acquisition will also expand the sprits portfolio of Tilaknagar Industries with the addition of brands like Leonov, Russki (vodka), Goldcup, Benjamin (brandy), Jubilation, Baluba (rum) and 3 Cheers (whisky) that are manufactured by IFB Agro.

Laxmi Narasimhan K, deputy managing director of TI, said, "This is an EBDITA-accretive acquisition for us. We are focused more on profitable volumes and the acquisition of IFB Agro's IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor) business will give us access to a profitable product line.

''Coming up as a dominant IMFL player in the south Indian market, we will now consolidate our position in the eastern Indian market too. We hope to enhance sales of the newly acquired brands to one million cases per annum and improve our topline sales by over 10 per cent."

According to the terms of the agreement executed between the two companies, the trademarks of all IMFL brands of IFB Agro stand transferred to TI, which would also take over all the employees working in the IMFL division of IFB Agro, the company said in a statement.

In 2010, TI added prominent brands / trademarks of Punjab-based Alcobrew Distilleries India Pvt Ltd that gave the company's portfolio brands such as White House whisky, White House brandy, Golden Chariot whisky, Bachelor Deluxe whisky and Bonking rum.