Stoli Group is planning to liquidate two US business units – Stoli Group USA and Kentucky Owl Bourbon.
In a statement yesterday (15 January), the Elit Vodka maker said it had filed a motion to move its Chapter 11 notice for the units into Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
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Stoli’s two US businesses filed for Chapter 11 in November 2024.
In yesterday’s statement, the business said all of its other US and global operations “are completely unaffected and continue normal operations”.
It added there was “sufficient inventory of Stoli brands in the US market to ensure consumers will be able to continue purchasing these products for the foreseeable future”.
The group said a combination of “geopolitical shocks” and a deceleration in the US spirits market, plus “lack of support and flexibility” from the company’s finance partners had led to the Chapter 11 filing over a year ago.
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By GlobalDataStoli said it has since been working to develop “a viable reorganisation plan” but that ultimately it “was unable to reach an agreement with its senior lender” on conditions that would enable Stoli Group USA and Kentucky Owl “to emerge from Chapter 11 as a going concern”.
Stoli had not responded to Just Drinks‘ request for further information on the potential sale of the business units and impact on jobs at the time of writing.
Reflecting on the “geopolitical shocks”, Stoli said it had faced 25 years of “unprecedented external pressures”, stemming from “protracted legal disputes” around brand ownership and control with Russia.
Since its condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the company said the local government had embarked on “the confiscation and nationalisation of Stoli’s state-of-the-art distillery” in the country.
It added that its business had also been affected “by a large-scale, sophisticated cyberattack that targeted its international operations and impaired systems vital to global distribution” with “remediation efforts” still taking place.
Stoli Group owns a portfolio of spirits and wine brands, including its namesake vodka line, which is distilled in Latvia.
Its other brands include Bayou Rum, Villa One Tequila, and Achavel Ferrer wine. The latter sits under its Tenute del Mondo wine unit.
Headquartered in Luxembourg, Stoli Group’s production is spread across a mixture of its own plants and third-party production facilities in Spain, Italy, Argentina, and the US, among other countries.
