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(Alliance News) - Premium drinks maker Distil PLC said Wednesday it has signed a joint venture and collaboration agreement with UK-based distiller British Honey Co Ltd, for the production and marketing of a new range of botanical spirits.
Under the agreement, both companies will contribute an initial cash sum of GBP30,000 towards production and marketing of the product range, with all intellectual property rights in newly created brands and recipes jointly owned and future revenue shared equally.
The collaboration will grant Distil access to British Honey's distillery for production, and the company will also assist British Honey with the marketing and distribution of the latter's own brands.
Initial new brand development work under the joint venture will start immediately, and Distil expects to incur additional costs in its current financial year. As a result, profit for the year ending March 31 will fall below market expectations, but still be ahead of the year before.
"I am very pleased to partner with BHC to facilitate an accelerated innovation agenda and more nimble product development capability. The joint venture will facilitate the creation and marketing of exciting new products and will improve Distil's capability to develop and refresh its own brand portfolio," said Executive Chair Don Goulding.
"This new collaboration brings together complementary capabilities which will benefit both companies and we look forward to communicating our progress in the coming months," Goulding added.
Shares in Distil - which is based in London - were down 1.8% at 0.81 pence on Wednesday.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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