Michelmores’ Corporate team has advised Enotria&Coe, a leading supplier of wines and spirits, on the acquisition of Gin Foundry Limited from Emile Ward and Olivier Ward. This was Enotria&Coe’s second investment advised by Michelmores during lock-down and reflects the resilience of the long-term strategy of the Enotria&Coe business.
Adding Gin Foundry into the Enotria&Coe family brought “two clear benefits” to Enotria&Coe’s existing business, said Troy Christensen, CEO of Enotria&Coe. “First, its experience in editorial, retail and event environments further our direct-to-consumer capacity. The second major benefit is strengthening our spirits insight and education,” he said. Following the merger with Coe Vintners in 2016, Enotria had taken a consultative approach selling wines and spirits to its trade customers in order to “help them create exhilarating drinks experiences”, he added. “Gin Foundry has demonstrated its ability to successfully educate within the spirits category, we’re delighted to tap into this and enrich Enotria&Coe’s capability to better service our valued trade customers.”
Emile Ward, co-founder of Gin Foundry added: “Continuing on from our already close working relationship, we’re thrilled to become fully part of Enotria&Coe. From a retail perspective, there’s an incredible opportunity to supercharge what we have done for the gin category and replicate it within other spirits.”
The Michelmores Corporate team for this deal was led by Edwin Richards, with support from Katie MacLean and Hollie Suddards. David Thompson and Philippa Collison provided commercial contract advice.
Troy Christensen, CEO of Enotria said: “Completing a deal in the middle of a pandemic was challenging, but Michelmores did a great job keeping everyone focused and pushing at the right pace. Their professionalism and focus on the big issues helped us deliver a key strategic partner for growth.”