Tuaca, the Italian liqueur distributed by Brighton-based company Danes in the UK, has been acquired by US drinks giant Brown-Forman (B-F).
In a deal worth £41.8m, B-F has assumed the 100 per cent ownership of the Tuoni & Canepa distillery in Tuscany, Italy, home of Tuaca.
B-F, which also owns Jack Daniels, Southern Comfort and Finlandia vodka, previously owned a 45 per cent stake in the brand and distributed it in the US for more than three years.
It is business as usual, however, in the UK where Danes Ltd recently signed a five year extension to distribute and market the brand having successfully grown Tuaca from zero to 5,000 cases a year.
Founder Poul Jensen is confident that B-F will get behind the brand and boost Danes's efforts to expand Tuaca beyond its south coast heartland.
Danes is also looking to establish a number of other brands from Italy including Kikor, a chocolate liqueur, Poncino, an anise-based coffee liqueur, Lemonello, a lemon-flavoured aperitif and Monasterium, a Mediterranean liqueur made from citrus fruits.