Emperador acquires more land in Spain

Tycoon Andrew Tan-led liquor firm Emperador has boosted its offshore production capability with the acquisition of more land for vineyard in Madrid, Spain.

It also is planning to break into new markets like Vietnam by next year.

The Emperador group acquired 409 hectares of land in Madrid, bringing its landbank for vineyard in Spain to about 1,000 hectares. The acquisition was made through Grupo Emperador Spain S.A., the Spanish subsidiary of offshore unit Emperador International Ltd., Emperador Inc. told the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday.

“We are building more vineyards in order to support our brandy production in Spain,” said Jorge Domecq Bohórquez, managing director of Emperador International.

Bohórquez said the group was “very satisfied” with the Philippine market’s reception of Emperador Deluxe Spanish Edition, an Emperador product that is produced and bottled in Spain.

“Sales of this product have exceeded our expectations since we launched it in the Philippines a few months ago. We expect to more than double our sales volume for Emperador Deluxe next year,” he said.

“We are currently preparing to launch Emperador Deluxe to the Vietnam market next year,” he added.

Emperador, whose shares have sizzled in the local stock market in the last few weeks, gained another 4.29 percent to close at P12.16 per share yesterday, giving it a market capitalization of  P174.9 billion.

In January, the liquor unit of Tan-led Alliance Global Group Inc. took the crucial step towards overseas expansion with the acquisition of Bodega San Bruno S.A., a brandy company based in Jerez, Spain. The deal included the acquisition of the San Bruno trademark, which has been registered since 1942. It also includes vineyards in Jerez, the brandy-producing region of Spain, as well as a sizable inventory of high-quality and well-matured brandy, now being stored and aged in sherry casks in the bodegas, or wineries, in Jerez.