Stoli eyes ‘big five’ acquisitions

Stoli Group USA president and CEO Patrick Piana has told The Spirits Business the company is interested in making American whiskey, gin and Tequila acquisitions.

Stoli Group USA is looking to acquisitions, says USA CEO Patrick Piana

Piana joined Stoli Group USA in June 2015 and cites acquisitions as a next-step priority.

“We have a few drivers which are very important. Organic growth is key, innovation is key, partnership with potential other brands is key, and then I’m looking into potential acquisitions. And things don’t happen overnight so it’s important that we stay very open to that.”

Stoli Group’s spirits portfolio currently comprises the Stolichnaya and elit by Stolichnaya vodka brands, and the company is the exclusive US distributor for Louisiana-distilled Bayou Rum.

“After that the categories we’re interested in are, and would make a lot of sense would be, you know Bourbon or American whiskey, gin and Tequila,” Piana continued.

“I don’t think we want to be in every single category of the spirits world, but I think that big five would be… if I think about the next five years it would be great for us to be able to have a presence in these categories.”

See the The Spirits Business April edition for the interview in full.

Earlier this month, Stoli Group unveiled a new gluten free variant, Stoli Gluten Free in a bid to grow market share in the US.