3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Wells Fargo has charge over shares in Dublin Liberties Distillery owner
Newly-filed paperwork with the Companies Registration Office (CRO), which was signed off by directors just last month and lodged last week, confirms the charge.
The sign-off came just as Quintessential Brands was closing its Dublin Liberties Distillery in the capital, as it faces headwinds affecting the global whiskey market. It said at the time that the closure is temporary and that it is committed to reopening the venue 'soon'.
A spokesperson for Quintessential Brands said the paperwork filed with the CRO relates to refinancing completed in 2020. It's unclear why there was a near five-year delay.
Because of the nature of the agreement, which involves shares, a declaration had to be filed under Section 203 of the Companies Act, which relates to transactions involving financial assistance for the acquisition of shares.
'Failure to file the declaration not later than 21 days after the date of the restricted activity will invalidate the carrying on of that activity,' the CRO says. The High Court can validate a late filing where it is 'just and equitable' to do so.
The Quintessential spokesperson said: 'It is paperwork that is finally being put in place for the refinancing that was completed in December 2020. Its covenants haven't changed and still apply today and moving forward.'
The paperwork signed off by directors on May 16 states that Quintessential Brands Ireland Holdings 'will accede' to a facilities agreement originally dated in 2011 and subsequently amended and restated a number of times between Quintessential Brands Ireland Whiskey Limited and Wells Fargo Capital Finance (UK), including on April 29, 2020, and on December 17, 2020.
'It is a condition to the continued availability of the facilities available under the amended and restated facilities agreement that the company… enter into a share charge, between the company and Wells Fargo Capital Finance,' according to the new filing with the CRO.
Quintessential Brands Ireland Holdings also owns First Ireland Spirits, the largest independent producer of Irish cream liqueur and Irish country creams in Ireland, according to the group. It has a manufacturing facility outside Abbeyleix in Co Laois.
The Irish holding company is part of the wider Quintessential Brands group, which manufactures own-label and private-label drinks.
Its stable includes Greenall's Gin, Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey and O'Mara's Country Cream.
