T&T-based rum and bitters producer, Angostura Holdings Ltd, is divesting its Canadian assets-Angostura Canada. The million-dollar deal would see two different companies getting a bite of the pie, according to the Angostura CEO Wayne Yip Choy in a telephone interview yesterday. The information was disclosed after concerns were raised about the Canadian facility, which has been siting idle for about a year-and-a-half with full-time and part-time employees.
Angostura Canada was shut down in 2009 shortly after the CL Financial issue broke in T&T and the Government took over its assets. It was a subsidiary of Trinidad-based Angostura Ltd, which is itself more than 70 per cent owned by CL Financial. According to earlier reports, Angostura purchased the assets of Maple Leaf Distillers, including its production equipment, real estate, warehouse space and brand trade marks in December 2005.
Maple Leaf, the report said, was identified as one the most poisonous assets in the Crocus investment fund portfolio that was placed into bankruptcy in 2006. After the purchase, Angostura Canada announced its grand opening in December 2006. At the time the plant had undergone $500,000 in renovations and another million was invested in the plant, including the installation of a new bottling line. But after the CL Financial crisis, management encountered difficulties in sustaining the establishment and took the decision to close its doors.
The report also stated that between 2006 and 2009, $1.5 million was invested into the company but it had yet to produce a profit. The report added that Angostura was the second company to have failed in the 55,000 square foot plant on Saulteux crescent in the Murray Industrial plant. Yip Choy dismissed claims that Angostura Canada was operating with full-time staff, stating that this was untrue and there was only one employee (an engineer) at the establishment overseeing the equipment. He stated that the Winnipeg establishment is in the process of being sold and he admitted that the building did take awhile to be sold.
However, Yip Choy said he was unable to divulge who the buyer was and the amount it was being sold for because they are still in the process of negotiating the sale.
He stated however that they got "a decent price for it." Confirming this was Vidya Doodnath, executive director of Technical Operations at Angostura Trinidad. She explained that the process took a long time because the first buyer encountered financial difficulties. "We had an offer with a company (who she did not wish to name), but they could not come up with the financing and that delayed us several months...so we got another buyer," Doodnath said.
But she stated that by June of this year, the deal would be completed. Doodnath further explained that the land and building were being sold to one company and the equipment to another. Asked who the buyers were, she said she unable to disclose that information, but stated that the land and building were worth approximately CAN$3 million while the equipment could be valued around CAN$1 million. The Winnipeg establishment was known for its tequila based drink-Margarita Ice and its silver and gold tequila-Hoja and Vieja.