KBC drinks to Scottish funding

A Scottish distiller of single and mainstream whiskey brands has received a funding package worth tens of million of pounds from a Belgian banking group.


A Scottish distiller of single and mainstream whiskey brands has received a funding package worth tens of million of pounds from a Belgian banking group.

A Scottish distiller of single and mainstream whiskey brands has received a funding package worth tens of million of pounds from a Belgian banking group.

Burns Stewart Distillers secured £31 million from KBC Business Capital, the asset-based lending division of KBC Bank.

KBC Business Capital, which specialises in funding mid-sized businesses, provided an asset-based lending package, comprising accounts receivables, inventory, plant and machinery as well as property finance.

The bank was advised on the legal issues of its funding by the banking and finance team at Wragge & Co, led by head of asset finance Paula Laird, who was assisted by Yuen san Naylor-Lui.

This is the second deal the firm has completed for KBC in as many weeks, following the financing of Aluminiumwerk Unna to fund its acquisition of Redditch-based BA Tubes for £7 million.

East Kilbride-based Burns Stewart Distillers produces single malt brands Bunnahabhain, Tobermory and Deanston, alongside mainstream blended products such as Scottish Leader and Black Bottle.

The company became part of the Trinidad-based conglomerate CL Financial in 2003, which also owns Hine Cognac as well as rum and bitters company Angostura.

Marc Barber

Raven Connelly

Marc was editor of GrowthBusiness from 2006 to 2010. He specialised in writing about entrepreneurs, private equity and venture capital, mid-market M&A, small caps and high-growth businesses.

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