Beam Suntory acquires ABV Brands in South Africa

Premium spirits company Beam Suntory has completed its acquisition of South African spirits distributor ABV Brands after purchasing the remaining 50% stake from founders Ross Calow, Daniel Hawkins and Igor Boyadjian.

With the completion of the acquisition, Beam Suntory will immediately assume full ownership of ABV Brands and the existing staff members of the South African firm will be integrated into Beam Suntory.

Beam Suntory Alliance and Emerging Markets managing director Yuri Grebenkin said: “Throughout our eight-year partnership, ABV Brands has demonstrated that it has the market knowledge, the commercial drive, and the passion for our brands to deliver consistent, aggressive growth in South Africa.

“We are delighted to welcome the ABV Brands team to Beam Suntory and we are looking forward to building on their already impressive achievements as one team. I’d like to offer our sincere thanks to Ross and Dan for their partnership throughout the years.

“They have built an outstanding business and we are delighted that Dan will continue to drive our commercial strategy in South Africa.”

ABV Brands was founded in 2010 and has been Beam Suntory’s distribution partner in South Africa from the beginning. Beam Suntory acquired a 50% stake in the South African company in 2015.

The distributor has been credited with Beam Suntory’s Courvoisier Cognac becoming the second Cognac Brand in South Africa and Jim Beam Bourbon’s double digit growth in the country.

ABV Brands commercial director Dan Hawkins said: “ABV Brands is extremely proud of the leadership position we have built in this dynamic market over the past eight years, and we are thrilled to be taking this next step with Beam Suntory and its world-class portfolio of premium brands.

“We are confident that combining our local expertise with Beam Suntory’s global scale and capabilities will be a winning combination, empowering us to take the business to the next level in South Africa.”