Mishcon de Reya has advised Elixir Distillers, founded by Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh, on its acquisition of the Tormore Distillery from Pernod Ricard. The transaction exchanged on 20 June 2022 and completed on 20 December 2022.
The Tormore distillery is emblematic of the Speyside region, home of the Scottish malt whisky industry, with a capacity of nearly five million litres of alcohol per annum. A listed building, constructed in 1960, it is equally famous for the quality of its Scotch whiskies as for its architectural design.
Elixir Distillers is a creator, blender and bottler of fine spirits, combining delicious, characterful liquid with beautiful design. Their expertise is Scotch whisky and rum but they also work with Japanese whisky, tequila and other spirits. Their core brands include Port Askaig, Elements of Islay, Single Malts of Scotland and Black Tot which they export to more than 30 international markets around the world. They are building a new distillery on Islay, Portintruan, which is due to open in 2024.
The team at Mishcon de Reya was led by Partners Jonathan Berman and James Paterson and included Arthur Horsfall, Reema Sharma, John Skoulding, Stephen Elhabbal, Dominic Walsh, Greg Campbell and Dami Ewedemi.
The instruction follows Mishcon de Reya acting for the Elixir Group on its disposal of The Whisky Exchange to Pernod Ricard in 2021.
Sukhinder Singh, Co-founder of Elixir Distillers commented: "Tormore is one of the most visually stunning distilleries in Speyside. It produces a beautiful spirit and fits in perfectly with the Elixir Distillers flavour-first philosophy to bottle only the very highest quality whiskies. We are hoping to build on the work that’s been done by Pernod Ricard to bring to life the magic of Tormore and show consumers around the world just what a hidden gem it is. We are humbled to be the new custodians of Tormore; we couldn’t have asked for a better distillery to welcome to the Elixir family alongside our new Islay distillery, Portintruan.
The Mishcon de Reya team, led by Jonathan and James, supported us on the sale of The Whisky Exchange to Pernod Ricard in 2021 and once again have provided a very good service level on this acquisition of the Tormore Distillery."
James Paterson commented: "Having supported Sukhinder and Rajbir on their disposal of The Whisky Exchange in 2021, it has been a pleasure to once again advise them on this milestone acquisition for Elixir Distillers and to play a small part in Elixir Distillers' continued journey to becoming a world leading brand owner."