Whisky buy-in is dram good
Hellyers unveils $4.8m public growth plan
Whisky lovers will soon have the opportunity to own a part of Tasmanian distilling history.
Hellyers Road Distillery, said to be Australia’s oldest operating single malt whisky distillery, is set to offer shares to the public to enable the company’s future growth.
Hellyers Road chief executive Derek Charge said the North-West distillery hopes to raise $4.8m through a crowdfunded equity raise.
“We are offering whisky lovers and other Australians the opportunity to share in our potential future growth,” Mr Charge said.
“This capital raise will allow us to lay down more whisky in the coming years so that we maintain our first mover advantage in aged Australian whisky and also increase our sales and marketing capability in key global markets.”
Mr Charge said potential investors will join 138 existing shareholders who are passionate about Tasmanian whisky.
“Most of our existing shareholders are the second, third, and fourth generation descendants of our original founders who invested in us back in 1997,” he said.
“Using the same conservative valuation methodology, our ageing stock will double in value from $49m today to $100m in 2026, and that is taking into account our planned drawdown of volume of sales in that period.” Hellyers Road investor material also states that revenue for the nine months ending March 30, 2024, was $6.1m, up 91 per cent from the previous comparable period.
With an inventory of premium aged whisky, increased production capacity, and a strong balance sheet, Mr Charge said Hellyers Road was in a fortunate economic position compared to other Australian distilleries.
“We estimate that we have approximately 90 per cent of all whisky in Australia aged 18 years or older,” he said.
“We are probably about a decade ahead of our competitors in terms of being able to supply quality aged whisky in such volumes.”
Hellyers Road Distillery, located at Havenview, at Burnie, is seeking expressions of interest now and the offer will be open to the public from May 7, and close three weeks later on May 27.