A blend of 35 whiskies... and a variety of different owners
Takeovers have become a regular part of Whyte and Mackay history
WHYTE and Mackay claims that the pride and passion of its original owners, James Whyte and Charles Mackay, still lives on in every glass of the company’s blended whisky, which uses 35 different whiskies.
But the firm has come a long way since 1882 when the two founders saw an opportunity – as the brand’s website claims – to “provide the hard-working residents of Glasgow with an alternative to Cognac”. Ironically, it is now owned by one of the world’s largest brandy firms.
Its twin red lion logo is said to symbolise the oppression of clan Macgregor of Glenorchy by the Campbells. When Macgregors were banned from using that name in the 17th century, Whyte was one of the names many chose. One of Whyte and Mackay’s lions is said to be from the Macgregor crest, the other to represent the Scottish lion rampant.
The company traces its origins to 1844, when James Whyte founded his company Allan & Poynter. After the later partnership with Mackay was established in Glasgow’s dockyards, Whyte and Mackay remained privately owned until the 1970s.
In 1960, a merger with Mackenzie Bros had given the company its first distillery, Dalmore at Alness in Ross-shire.
A further purchase, of Tomintoul-Glenlivet in 1973, gave it two more distilleries, Fettercairn in Kincard-ineshire, and Tomintoul, although the latter was sold in 2000. In 1972, it was purchased by Sir Hugh Fraser’s Scottish and Universal Investments, since when its headquarters in St Vincent Street has been the stage for a bumpy history of takeovers.
Tiny Rowland’s Lonhro conglomerate bought the company in 1981, and it was subsequently bought by Brent Walker in 1988, and subsequently American Brands in 1990, before a management buy-out in 2001.
The £205 million deal, touted as the largest ever in Scotland, saw the birth of a new venture called Kyndal and brought the company back into Scottish ownership
This was short-lived. Although named the leading seller in UK off-licences in 2002, by 2003, the company had been re-named Whyte & Mackay following a boardroom clear-out as global profits and market share slipped and the firm was forced to make redundancies.
In 2007, the controversial entrepreneur Vijay Mallya, once dubbed “the Richard Branson of India”, purchased Whyte and Mackay, which by now sold nine million cases a year, for his United Brands group, paying £585m .
When Diageo took a controlling interest in United Spirits, the UK Competition and Markets Authority insisted on a sell-off. Mallya sold the company for a huge loss in November 2014 to Chinese Filipino billionaire Andrew Tan.
Mr Tan acquired Whyte and Mackay’s range of aged blends and the Dalmore and Jura premium single malt brands, plus Vladivar vodka and Glayva Liqueur, for £430m, for his firm Emperador Distilleries.