Not much of Scotland’s whisky industry is owned directly from Scotland. The Edrington Group, Gordon & MacPhail come to mind. However, it’s good to see investment from overseas going into the industry, with some of it recently coming from South Africa. When Billy Walker acquired BenRiach and then both GlenDronach and (just last month) Glenglassaugh, his financial partners were South African.
Now, another small firm of distillers, Burn Stewart, has been acquired with South African money, this time by the drinks giant Distell. This wasn’t a case of yet another Scottish company falling prey to an overseas predator; it was already a subsidiary of CL Financial, a privately owned Trinidadian-based conglomerate.
What is important is not necessarily who owns the distilleries but how willing they are to invest in them. Burn Stewart has three distilleries and a bottling plant. Its most celebrated brands in the UK at least are Bunnahabhain on Islay and Tobermory from Mull, though it has several other products such as Black Bottle and Scottish Leader, its largest seller. 
In some respects, this deal is not unexpected. Six years ago, the two companies formed a joint venture, aimed at marketing its whiskies in sub-Saharan Africa. The new owner said that purchasing the company would allow it to capitalise on the global growth in whisky consumption.
According to the Distell Group’s managing director, Jan Scannell, “Our acquisition of Burn Stewart is a very significant development for Distell from a strategic perspective but also given the rich and proud history and heritage of the brands involved. This gives us an outstanding foundation from which to build, while cherishing their individual traditions.”
The sales comes at a time when Scotch whisky exports have hit a record £4.3bn in 2012, an increase of 87% in the past 10 years. Single malt exports alone rose by some 190% over the same period, from £268m to £778m. Distell clearly believes that the acquisition, which was completed on Friday, fills a gap in its portfolio, allowing it to offer its customers a broader range of products. The South Africa firm has been growing its drinks business, buying Bisquit Cognac in 2009. This latest purchase is another step in developing Distell into a global industry player.
What this means for the Scotch is that this relatively small firm is now owned by a much larger company that clearly understands the drinks industry. It wants its new acquisition to do well and that should mean investment and perhaps in time an expansion of the portfolio. We will watch with interest to see what happens.