Teeling raises €5m for Great Northern Distillery

John Teeling’s Irish Whiskey Company has ditched equity sale plans after raising €5 million for the Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk through a government tax relief scheme.

According to a report by the Irish Independent, the distillery’s co-founder John Teeling said a further €7.5 million could be raised through the Employment and Investment Incentive (EII) tax relief scheme over the next two years.

This boost would bring the funding to a maximum of €15 million – as €2.5 million had previously been raised by Great Northern Distillery under the scheme.

A 20% stake in the business that valued the company at €25 million was due to be sold to a major drinks supplier, but this was withdrawn after the distillery recorded “sufficient orders” to enable it not to.

The Irish Whiskey Company acquired the former Harp Brewery in 2013 after Diageo announced plans to close the plant as part of a consolidation of its Irish brewing operations.

Based on the former site of Great Northern Brewery, the distillery supplies bulk grain whiskey to other Irish distilleries for blending, and produces bulk blended whiskies for independent bottlers in the global private label market.

At full capacity the distillery will produce three million cases of grain whiskies, pot still whiskies and single malts, retaining half the whiskey for its own brand, and selling the other half sold to third parties in both Irish and international markets.