Who owns our whisky?

I was intrigued by a piece by Douglas Fraser on the whisky industry and where the market share was concentrated and the ongoing tale of the Scotch Whisky Association objecting to minimum pricing so I nipped off to the SWA to have a look at its membership list and do a bit of research.  It was the ownership that struck me most.  I've only looked at SWA members and no-one else because it was easier for me than trawling for everything.  When I'd finished doing all that I found a site which lists distillery ownership which might have made the whole process a bit easier but I've not had a good look at it yet.

I think I've got this right, I had to dig a bit to follow the ownership trail on some of them.  The location in the fancy brackets at the end of each entry indicates the location of the headquarters of the company that is at the top of the ownership tree in each instance (if I've got it right).  That doesn't mean that all the shareholders are there, of course, but it does mean that the headquarters jobs are there, that profits will probably be declared there and perhaps where taxes are paid - although we already know that some companies use subsidiaries to avoid or minimise taxes - Diageo, for example.

Of the 51 SWA members listed I counted 14 owned by companies headquartered in Scotland and one more jointly owned between a company headquartered in Glasgow and one headquartered in London.  Eight are owned by the Thai Beverage Public Company Limited of Bangkok; and ten and a half are owned by or are subsidiaries of Diageo (London) - Edrington owns the other half of North British Distillers.  It should be noted up front that not all of the companies are distillers and some of these companies are only in the industry tangentially (based elsewhere and selling whisky, for example).

Unless there are plenty other companies in the whisky industry that aren't members of the SWA, ownership of the whisky industry is very concentrated.  Whether that is a good thing or not is a debate to be had, I suppose, but here's what I've found.

Scotch Whisky Association

A Dewar Rattray – small independent in niche market; mainly bottling, some own stock {Ayrshire, Scotland}

Aceo – whisky brokers and offers other services to industry {Gloucestershire, England}

Adelphi Distillery – tiny independent bottler, just got planning permission for distillery {Argyll, Scotland}

Balblair Distillery Co Ltd – small distillery, owned by Inverhouse Distillers which in turn is owned by the Thai Beverage Public Company Limited (ThaiBev)  {Bangkok, Thailand}

Beam inc – (Laphroaig and Teachers) {Illinois, USA}

Ben Nevis Distillery Ltd – independent small distillery {Fort William, Scotland}

Berry Bros & Rudd – (owns The Glenrothes distillery) wine & spirit merchant {London, England}

Blairmhor Distillers Ltd - small distillery, owned by Inverhouse Distillers which in turn is owned by the Thai Beverage Public Company Limited (ThaiBev)  {Bangkok, Thailand}

Blairmhor Ltd – same as Blairmhor Distillers Ltd; owned by the Thai Beverage Public Company Limited (ThaiBev)  {Bangkok, Thailand}

James Buchanan & Co Ltd – bottlers in London, owned by Diageo {London, England}

Burn Stewart Distillers Ltd – owned by CL Financial – a company currently in the midst of major investigations after its collapse {Trinidad}

James Catto & Co Ltd – blender owned by International Beverage Holdings which in turn is owned by the Thai Beverage Public Company Limited (ThaiBev)  {Bangkok, Thailand}

Chivas Brothers Ltd – distiller owned by Pernod Ricard {Paris, France}

John Dewar & Sons Ltd – distiller owned by Bacardi {London, England}

Diageo Brands BV – marketing and distribution branch of Diageo based in Amsterdam {London, England}

Diageo Great Britain Ltd – marketing and distribution branch of Diageo based in London {London, England}

Diageo plc – group name {London, England}

Diageo Scotland Ltd – production, marketing and distribution based Edinburgh {London, England}

 

Edrington – international holding company & distillers {Glasgow, Scotland}

Glen Grant Ltd – distiller owned by Campari {Milan, Italy}

Glenglassaugh Distillery Company Ltd –distiller owned by the Scaent Group {Amsterdam, Netherlands}

Glenmorangie Company Ltd – distiller owned by LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) {Paris, France}

Gordon & MacPhail – bottler and broker {Elgin, Scotland}

J&G Grant – independent distiller {Ballindalloch, Scotland}

William Grant & Sons Ltd – distiller {Bellshill, Scotland}

John Haig & Co Ltd – distiller, bottler, blender owned by Diageo {London, England}

J&W Hardie Ltd – distiller {Edinburgh, Scotland}

Harvey's of Edinburgh International Ltd – distiller, bottler, blender owned by HOE International {Taipei City, Taiwan}

Highland Distillers – distiller, owned by Edrington {Glasgow, Scotland}

International Whisky Co Ltd – blender {London, England}

Inver House Distillers Ltd – owned by (ThaiBev) {Bangkok, Thailand}

D Johnston & Co (Laphroaig) Ltd – distiller {Glasgow, Scotland}

Justerini & Brooks Ltd – wine & spirits merchants (J&B whisky), owned by Diageo {London, England}

Kilchoman Distillery Co Ltd – small distiller {Argyll, Scotland}

Knockdhu Distillery Co Ltd – distiller owned by IBH and so by (ThaiBev) {Bangkok, Thailand}

Laing, Douglas & Co Ltd – independent bottler and blender {Glasgow, Scotland}

Last Drop Distillers Ltd – broker {London, England}

London & Scottish International Ltd – wholesaler {Bramley, England}

Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd – distiller {Broxburn, Scotland}

Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd – distiller owned by Suntory {Osaka, Japan}

North British Distillery Co Ltd – distiller owned jointly by Edrington {Glasgow, Scotland} and Diageo {London, England}

Old St Andrews Ltd – bottler and distributor {Sevenoaks, England}

Pulteney Distillery Co Ltd – distiller owned by IBH and so by (ThaiBev) {Bangkok, Thailand}

Peter J Russell & Co Ltd – non trading, owned by Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd {Broxburn, Scotland}

Wm Sanderson & Son Ltd – non trading, owned by Diageo {London, England}

Scotch Malt Whisky Society – club owned by Glenmorangie and so by LVMH {Paris, France}

Speyburn-Glenlivet Distillery Co Ltd – distiller owned by IBH and so by (ThaiBev) {Bangkok, Thailand}

Wm Teacher & Sons Ltd – distiller owned by Beam inc {Illinois, USA}

Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd – distiller owned by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd {Kyoto, Japan}

United Distillers UK plc – distiller owned by Diageo {London, England}

John Walker & Sons Ltd – distiller owned by Diageo {London, England}