UK-based Ginmeister, producer of small batch Pinkster Gin, has sold its brands to a newly formed group, Pinkster Drinks Company.
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
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Ginmeister ceased operations at the end of last week following the acquisition agreement, Stephen Marsh, the former managing director of Ginmeister, told Just Drinks.
Pinkster Gin will be taken over by Pinkster Drinks Co., while stock will be managed by local distributor and importer JBE Imports, he said.
The deal also includes Ginmeister’s Hedgepig fruit gin liqueurs, which are sold to a small number of delis around the UK.
Production will also move following the acquisition. Both brands were previously produced at Dean’s Farm in Croydon, Cambridgeshire. Output will now move to a third-party manufacturer, Cranes Drinks, located nearby.
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By GlobalDataMarsh is expected to remain working with both brands, with a particular focus on building expansion plans for Pinkster Gin. Ginmeister’s team of five employees will also move over to Pinkster Drinks Co., Marsh said.
Pinkster Drinks Co. was set up in June by Steven Sussman, former chairman at wealth management group JM Finn, Gus Hinton, former head of operations at Ginmeister and Amy Norris, previously Pinkster Gin’s first head of sales.
In a statement, Hinton, now operations director at Pinkster Drinks Co., said: “We have big plans for Pinkster Gin and are delighted to be working with such experienced industry players as Stephen Marsh and Jonathan Braham-Everett to help bring those plans to fruition.”
Marsh added: “I look forward to supporting the new owners with their investment plans to accelerate the trajectory of the Pinkster brand forward into the next decade and to build upon the reputation for quality that we have earned over the past decade.”
Launched in 2013, Pinkster Gin’s is mainly sold to the on-trade across the UK. It is also available in the off-trade through online sites like Amazon and Ocado and independent stores.
Up until last year, Marsh said the group had a total annual production capacity of 10,000 nine-litre cases.
Outside of the UK, the brand is sold in Dubai in travel-retail outlets. Following the purchase, Marsh said Pinkster’s “primary focus is going to be the UK but with a growing interest in export”.
Marsh declined to say where these future export markets might be.
