30 jobs to be created from Boru US merger

Pat Rigney and David Phelan of the Roaring Water Bay Spirits Company (RWB), have announced a merger with US drinks company, Great Spirits Company (GSC), to form a new company, Castle Brands.

Roaring Water Bay Spirits Company, an indigenous Irish company which has enjoyed success with its Boru Irish vodka and Clontarf Irish whiskey brands, is joining forces with GSC, which has been the official distributor for the Boru and Clontarf brands in the US for the past three years.

The merger will allow Castle Brands to substantially increase investment in key areas of the business. Over the coming year, Castle Brands plans to invest more than €10m in the development of the company.

The company anticipates that over 30 jobs will be created in Ireland over the next three years as a result of the merger.

Castle Brands will have combined coverage in over 35 countries, with particular strength in Ireland, the US and Europe.

The US market is to be a strong growth focus, particularly as the total annual US vodka market is worth over €8bn.

The companies are merging primarily on a stock-for-stock basis, forming a new holding company. As part of the merger, each employee will be awarded a stock option in the new company.

Castle Brands forecasts sales of approximately 250,000 cases in their first combined full year, with a longer term goal of growing to 1,000,000 cases within the next four years.

Castle Brands will be led by a five-person operating committee, consisting of Pat Rigney and David Phelan of RWB, and Mark Andrews, Kelley Spillane and newly-appointed Chief Financial Officer Matt MacFarlane.

Other shareholders in the company include the Carbery Group and Terra Manufacturing.

Castle Brands will operate out of offices in New York, Dublin and London. The New York office will be responsible for activity in North and South America and the Dublin office will be responsible for activity in Ireland, Europe and Asia.