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News
Lark Distilling buys Pontville owner for AU$40m
Australian whisky maker Lark Distilling Co has agreed to purchase the owner of Pontville Distillery and Estate for AU$40 million (US$29.9m).
Lark Distilling has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Kernke Family Shene Estate, owner of the Pontville Distillery and Estate.
The deal includes building a new one-million-litre distillery on the purchased land, and to accelerate Lark Distilling’s export strategy. Construction is expected to be commissioned in 2023.
The AU$40m purchase price comprises AU$38.5m (US$28.7m) paid in cash and AU$1.5m (US$1.12m) in Lark shares.
Pontville Distillery and Estate is located 30 minutes north of Hobart at Pontville. Spanning 40 acres of land and buildings, the site also includes a 130,000-litre distillery, a cellar door, eight bond stores, a working cooperage, stables and homestead.
It will be Lark Distilling’s third working distillery in Tasmania, Australia, joining the Cambridge and Bothwell facilities. Pontville will contribute to the in-house production of 576,000 litres of Lark single malt whisky annually.
Lark at Pontville will start distilling in February 2022 and will open its cellar doors to the public from this date. All distilling and whisky development will continue to be led by Lark master distiller Chris Thomson and his team.
In other recent acquisition news, French drinks group Pernod Ricard bought The Whisky Exchange for an undisclosed amount. The deal included Whisky.Auction and London Cocktail Week.