The spirits company, Kyndal International, formed by a £208m buyout from Jim Beam Brands, has denied that its level of investment is being limited by the scale of its interest payments.
“Speculation regarding Kyndal’s debt repayment requirement limiting brand investment is grossly misleading,” said Kyndal’s chairman, Vivian Immerman. “We have twice the interest cover required to service the debt and have therefore significant sums of money to invest in our brands, and are actively doing so. This is a strong financial position to be in. We are also reducing our debt on an ongoing basis.”
Kyndal, whose brands include Whyte & Mackay Scotch whisky and Vladivar vodka, has not filed its accounts for the year to September 30, but said that underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were £29.9m, “significantly ahead of last year”, and that interest payments on bank loans amounted to £15.4m.
The company is one of the borrowers from WestLB, which managed the buyout and lent Kyndal £188m, in which Robin Saunders, who put the deal together, took an equity stake. WestLB stressed that taking such stakes was “common practice” and had been approved by the bank.
