FDBusiness.com

The Lakes Distillery, a leading English single malt whisky distillery, is exploring the possibility of seeking admission of its shares to trading on AIM, the London Stock Exchange’s market for smaller growing companies. The company has appointed N+1 Singer as its nominated adviser and broker in relation to a possible admission and a potential fundraising by way of a placing with institutional shareholders to raise up to £15 million of growth capital in the latter part of 2018.

The Lakes Distillery was formed in 2011 and commenced operations in December 2014 with the aspiration to create a global luxury whisky brand. As well as distilling and maturing initial stocks of premium single malt whisky the company has built a portfolio of award-winning premium spirits brands including: a world’s first blend of British Isles whiskies, The ONE; Steel Bonnets, a world’s first of English and Scottish blended malt whiskies; The Lakes Gin; The Lakes Vodka; and a range of flavoured liqueurs.

As an English single malt whisky distiller, The Lakes Distillery is classified as a ‘world whisky’, the high growth segment of the global whisky market.

Nigel Mills, chief executive of The Lakes Distillery, comments: “The Lakes Distillery has strong brand credentials, is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty, the Lake District National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and has a successful track record of innovation and brand development. We believe we are well positioned for growth, with multiple revenue streams, and an appreciating asset in the form of our whisky stock, developed using our multi-oak, multi-sherry led production process.”

He adds: “We are exploring an IPO as a flexible source of capital to allow us to increase our production significantly, whilst remaining independent and focused on quality, as well as investing in our whisky stock, our sales and marketing capabilities and our distribution channels. Ultimately this will help us to achieve our ambition to build a global luxury whisky brand.”