Nolet Group, the family-owned maker of Ketel One vodka, has struck a deal to buy Dutch distilling peer Lucas Bols.
An offer valuing the liqueurs and Tequila business at €269.5m ($284.1m) has been backed by Lucas Bols’ management and supervisory boards.
Family-owned Nolet has been a shareholder in Lucas Bols since the cocktail maker listed in 2015. It owns 29.9% of the business.
The bid represents a premium of around 76% to Lucas Bols’ share price at the close of trading on Friday (6 October), the companies said in a statement today. It has been recommended to Lucas Bols’ shareholders.
Lucas Bols, which will retain its name and brands, will be brought into Nolet Group as “a separate company”, the statement read. It will keep its office in Amsterdam.
CEO Huub van Doorne and CFO Frank Cocx will remain in place. Van Doorne, Cocx and supervisory board chairman René Hooft Graafland together own 5.4% of Lucas Bols. They have agreed to sell their holdings to Nolet Group.
Van Doorne said: “Together, we create a Dutch champion in the global spirits and cocktail market with a strong portfolio of brands, the right focus and strengthened brand investments.”
In the year to the end of March, Lucas Bols, the owner of Galliano liqueurs, generated revenue of €100.9m, up 9% on a year earlier. The company pointed to “premiumisation”, price increases, exchange rates and the acquisition of Tequila brand Partida last year.
However, the company’s “normalised” operating profit fell 26.7% to €15.1m amid high input and logistics costs, as well as “a clear step-up” in marketing investment, Lucas Bols said at the time.
The group’s normalised net profit stood at €10.1m, against €14.7m a year earlier.
Carel Nolet, the chair of Nolet Group, said: “Nolet and Lucas Bols complement each other well in terms of markets, brands, innovation and marketing. For us, the combination with Lucas Bols is a valuable expansion with a strong portfolio of well-known brands. Lucas Bols is an industry-leading company we know very well. We have been a large shareholder since its listing in 2015 and have been supporting the leadership in delivering their strategy ever since.”
Lucas Bols’ portfolio also includes Passoã fruit liqueur, the sparkling liqueur brand Nuvo acquired in June and non-alcoholic spirits brand Fluère, which was snapped up at the turn of the year.
Nolet Group has a 50-50 joint venture with Diageo through which the companies sell and market Ketel One vodka and the lower-alcohol Botanicals range. The venture has been in place since 2008 and it is understood there are no plans to change the arrangement in the event of Nolet Group buying Lucas Bols.
Under the terms of the deal, Lucas Bols has agreed not to solicit any third-party offers. If a rival cash bid comes in that the Lucas Bols boards believe “is a more beneficial offer and transaction” and exceeds the deal on the table by at least 12.5%, Nolet Group has the chance to match it.
Shares in Lucas Bols were up 70.94% at €17.35 at 10:10 BST today.
