Constellation Brands divests Copper & Kings
US firm Constellation Brands has sold American brandy producer Copper & Kings to Kentucky-based Bourdon Spirits Company.
According to Bourdon Spirits Company, the acquisition was completed on 5 August, with financial terms under wraps.
The divestment comes almost five years after Constellation Brands purchased Copper & Kings, following a minority stake investment in 2018.
Family-owned Bourdon Spirits, based in Louisville, said the acquisition increases its investment in the future of American brandy.
Bourdon noted that spirits production will continue at Copper & Kings’ Louisville distillery.
“We’re honoured to welcome Copper & Kings into our family and lead its next chapter right here in Louisville,” said Rob Bourdon, founder of Bourdon Spirits Company.
“This is a brand that respects tradition while creating with a distinct, American-made spirit. We’re excited to bring American brandy to more people, in more places.”
Its new parent company plans to expand the distillery’s visitor experience and the brand’s distribution in the US.
Bourdon added: “We plan to build on Copper & Kings’ legacy by honouring its roots and continuing to do things our own way, just as the brand always has.”
Founded in 2014 by Joe and Lesley Heron, Copper & Kings produces Bourbon barrel-aged brandy and brandy barrel-finished Bourbon.
The Spirits Business has approached Constellation Brands for a statement.
Divestments in the wake of struggling sales
The sale of the brand comes a month after Constellation reported a first-quarter sales decline of 21% for its wine and spirits.
It followed a full-year revenue drop of 7% for wine and spirits, announced in April. Constellation Brands said at the time that it would undergo ‘a review of its organisational structuring’, which it anticipates will deliver net annualised cost savings in excess of US$200 million by fiscal year 2028.
Constellation has trimmed its wine and spirits portfolio in the last year. The US firm offloaded Svedka Vodka to Sazerac in January and most of its mainstream wine brands in June.
The company also sold its minority stake in whiskey maker Catoctin Creek back to its founders in 2023.
Constellation’s spirits portfolio includes the Mi Campo and Casa Noble Tequilas, whiskey producers Nelson’s Green Brier and High West, and ready-to-drink brand Austin Cocktails.
The firm owns minority stakes in zero-ABV brand Hiyo, seltzer brand Press, Black Button Distilling, El Silencio mezcal, Durham Distillery, and Dos Hombres Mezcal. Dos Hombres was founded by Breaking Bad stars Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston in 2019.
New York-based spirits producer Black Button recently shut its tasting room, two years after opening an expanded experience.
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