Andrew Tan seals Fundador takeover

TYCOON Andrew Tan-led beverage arm Emperador Inc. has completed the acquisition of Spain’s most iconic, largest and oldest brandy-maker Bodegas Fundador.

In a press statement from Jerez, Spain, Emperador’s offshore unit Group Emperador Spain SA announced the completion of the deal to buy the 286-year old Bodegas Fundador and other assets in Spain from Beam Suntory.

Grupo Emperador Spain S.A. managing director Jorge Domeq said the turnover of this brandy production facility to Emperador was a major milestone for the company.

“With the combined brandy production facilities of Emperador and Fundador, the world’s largest brandy company is born. We now have almost 1,500 hectares of vineyard land in Spain, around 1,000,000 sqm of cellar and bottling facilities, and four distilleries here in Spain,” Domecq said.

Speaking during the ceremony, Emperador chair Andrew Tan said there’s huge opportunity for innovation and creativity in Spain’s brandy and sherry industry.

“A new era begins not just for Fundador, but the whole brandy and sherry industry in Spain. This is an era that will bring in more innovation and new ideas,” Tan said.

Tan’s goal is to create the world’s best brandy. “If the world’s best whiskies are aged in sherry casks in Jerez, then many of the brandy products now aged in sherry casks in Jerez should become the best brandy in the world. In Bodegas Fundador, we have a sizable inventory of brandy that has been aged for more than 50 years. Once they are bottled, they should become one of the most valuable brandies in the world,” he added.