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Gruppo Campari eyes 2017 acquisitions

Gruppo Campari’s M&A activity looks set to ramp up next year, as CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz tells The Spirits Business “once 2017 hits, we could be particularly active again”.

Bob Kunze-Concewitz says Gruppo Campari ‘could be ‘particularly active’ in M&A terms in 2017

Speaking exclusively to the publication for the August 2016 print edition, Kunze-Concewitz said his key priority for the rest of the 2016 calendar year is integrating the recently acquired Société des Produits Marnier Lapostolle (SPML) business.

However the CEO remains in an acquisitive mood, stating: “once 2017 hits, we could be particularly active again”.

“We’re quite transparent. We have a stated strategy of generating half of our growth via acquisitions so that remains unchanged, and, you know, we’re constantly looking at things,” he continued.

While Kunze-Concewitz declined to disclose potential targets, he did later hint at an interest in the vermouth sector.

“If you go to interesting markets in the US and Canada, you start to see a lot of craft action in the category,” he said, adding, “we’re following it yes – with interest.”

Gruppo Campari – which saw its half-year net sales to 30 June 2016 fall 1.8% – has added a number of brands to its stable in recent years.

In March 2016, the company announced it was acquiring the SPML business, best known for its Grand Marnier liqueur brand, in a deal which valued the company at €684 million.

Prior to that, in 2014, Gruppo Campari splashed out a combined €237 million for Canadian whisky producer Forty Creek Distillery, and Italian bitters group Fratelli Averna.

In a bid to streamline its spirits focus, Gruppo Campari has also shed a number of “non-core” operations, including Casoni Fabbricazione Liquori, which fetched €5.3 million earlier this year.

Despite the sell-off, Kunze-Concewitz, has said there will be “no bargain sales” as it restructures its portfolio.

See The Spirits Business August print edition for the interview in full.

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