French spirits group La Martiniquaise-Bardinet has acquired a majority stake in England’s Warner’s Distillery, adding a high-profile craft gin and countryside destination to its portfolio. The deal, announced by Drinks International and detailed in company communications, keeps the Warner’s founders in place and positions the brand for broader international distribution while tapping the French group’s bottling, routes to market, and marketing muscle. For bars, this is another signal that serious capital still wants scale-ready premium gin and provenance-rich rural distilleries. Strategically, La Martiniquaise-Bardinet picks up more than a gin label. Warner’s brings a farm-based visitor experience, strong sustainability narrative, and a track record of flavor-forward SKUs that play well on modern cocktail lists. In return, Warner’s gets a parent with global reach across Europe and beyond, plus portfolio adjacencies in whisky, brandy, and liqueurs that can support cross-programming in key accounts. Watch how quickly Warner’s shows up in duty free, national chains, and cocktail-led independents, and whether this sparks fresh acquisition interest in other UK and EU craft gin producers still operating solo.
Sources: - Drinks International: https://m.drinksint.com/news/categoryfront.php/id/205/Spirits_news.html - La Martiniquaise-Bardinet (corporate site / releases): https://la-martiniquaise.com
The Spirits Wire is AI-assisted and source-grounded. AI helps collect, classify, and summarize public industry news. It does not create facts. Every item links to its original public source with a timestamp.