Spanish Group buys Brazilian Cachaça

It was love at first sight: when proved, during a holiday trip to the Holy Spirit, the mixture of honey, rum and lemon, known as "Xiboquinha", the friend Luis Henry Munhoz and Renato Almeida Prado knew that her marriage with the drink would be. Seventeen years later, the Xiboquinha gave rise to the company that manages the Natique rum and Vodka Holy Liquid.
Even with a modest turnover of r $ 10 million, Natique caught the attention of Spanish group Osborne, who just bought a piece of the business, with the intention to internationalize the company's brands.
After six months of negotiations, the Natique bicentennial and Osborne have reached an agreement by which the Spanish purchased 50.1% of the Brazilian company. The value of the deal was not revealed. This is not the first time that the company engages with the national market: the Osborne Group has an alliance with the State the kernels Wine Group since 2006 and distributes some of its products in the country.
With the purchase of part of Natique, aliens intend to acquire a competitive position in the Brazilian market. Before signing the agreement, Munhoz reports that heard of Ignacio Osborne, the President of the Spanish group: "with any other drink the Brazilians can be very good, but with rum can be the best in the world".
The investment made by the Spanish occurs in parallel to the refinancing of the Group's corporate debt, estimated at 90 million. The company closed 2012 with net sales of 222 million. Compared to the previous year, turnover rose by 7%. The beverages unit, which also has restaurants and a line of products with the brand "Toro de Osborne", represents 78% of sales.
National. In addition to the product "imported" capixabas, the vacation Natique manages, since 1998, the Holy Degree Cachaças, which bet on the market premium and, since 2005, the Liquid Vodka, directed to the young audience. Together, the two drinks account for 70% of the company's revenue
Despite the significant expansion of the business, the artisanal production values-Natique Santo Degree, for example, is produced in different machines, including the Colonel Xavier Chaves, in Minas Gerais, with more than 250 years of history.
The fact of not being focused exclusively on the industrial production of drinks was one of the factors that contributed to the identification between the two companies. "What attracted the Spaniards was the youth and entrepreneurship and not a unique vision of the production", says Luis Henry Munhoz.
According to consultant and expert on cachaça, Jairo Martins da Silva, the business opportunities are also related to the visibility that the product will gain from the sporting events that will be established in the country as the World Cup and the Olympics. "Large companies are making acquisitions with an eye on the world stage. Today, only 1% of the Brazilian production, which is about 1.2 billion liters sold abroad. "
With the new company, the Natique project for the next five years became even more ambitious: the company wants to be among the top five brands of cachaça in Brazil. Today, the leaders are Muller, pill bugs, Pitu, Caninha da Roca and Ypioca.