BGF invests in Renegade Spirits Ireland

BGF has provided £5m of long-term funding for Renegade, a London headquartered business which is developing a major whiskey project on Ireland’s south-eastern coast. The funding will be used for continued development and production of single malt whiskey at Renegade’s Waterford distillery in Ireland.

Renegade’s founders – Mark Reynier, Sir John Mactaggart and John Adams – are veterans of the drinks industry having previously acquired the disused Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay off the West Coast of Scotland in 2002. They rebuilt the distillery and brand, before selling the business to Remy Cointreau in 2012 for £58m.

This represents BGF’s first investment into a company with its core operations in the Republic of Ireland. BGF is taking a minority stake and will have a seat on the board.

To date BGF has invested £1.2bn in over 175 companies. In 2016 BGF was the UK’s most active investor, and 7th worldwide, with £387m provided to UK smaller and mid-sized companies. The company has nine offices across the UK and already has made two investments into Northern Irish companies.

BGF also supports earlier stage businesses through BGF Ventures and strategic partnerships with larger organisations, including First Derivatives plc, which has offices on Mespil Road in Dublin.

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