The company behind Budweiser beer, AB Inbev, has bought the U.K whisky company The Atom Group for an undisclosed sum.
The Atom Group, based in Kent, England, are behind three well-known whisky and spirits brands. Master of Malt is one of the top online whisky retailers out there, Atom Brands includes celebrated independent bottler Boutique-y Whisky (and also a £10,000 whisky advent calendar), and Maverick Drinks distributes craft spirits across the UK, including a few whisky brands.
Atom Group’s senior leadership will keep running the business, including founder Justin Petszaft and business partners Ben Ellefsen, Tom McGuiness and Joel Kelly. The group has 175 employees.
Michael Vachon, co-founder of Maverick Drinks, said: ‘We came here to change the game and I think now we’re supercharged to do so.
‘Practically speaking, nothing is changing from our end… except growth. No changes in management, no changes to our portfolio, and (most importantly) absolutely no changes to the way we work.’
InBev made the purchase through its growth and innovation arm ZX Ventures, which specialize in identifying emerging trends, especially in e-commerce, within the beverage industry. The Atom Group will now have access to InBev’s global supply network, which also includes beers Corona, Stella and Becks.
Master of Malt’s blog, in announcing the takeover, stated “We are not going to change a single thing about what we do or how we do it. Not our people, not the way we do business, not our mission, not our values. We’re just going to be able to do it all *faster* because we’ve got a global partner in our corner who really believes in what we’re doing. ZX invests in businesses that it believes are doing things right, and have incredible potential to grow.”
However, the deal does complicate things for Master of Malt as at the time of writing it now no longer ships to the U.S., as new distribution laws apply now that InBev is in the picture. It is working on sorting this out through in-country wholesalers and retailers.
Regardless, the deal still does represent a massive step for the future of the online spirits business, which has been rapidly growing. However, Master of Malt’s U.S. delivery glitch may allow competitor site The Whisky Exchange to step into the gap.
