United Kingdom drinks group Halewood Wines & Spirits has acquired a "significant stake" in the Bajan Trading Company, parent
company of Rum Sixty-Six through its new craft spirits joint venture. Bajan Trading Company is connected to the Seale family. Richard Seale, master
distiller of Rum Sixty-Six at Foursquare Rum Distillery in St Philip,
Barbados. “Rum
Sixty Six offers a fantastic platform for Halewood to invest at the
premium end of the rum category,” said Stewart Hainsworth, CEO of Halewood
Wines & Spirits. “In addition to a compelling brand story, Foursquare has the capabilities to create spirits which are
unrivaled among golden rums.” Earlier
this year, Hainsworth told The Spirits Business that his company was "actively looking at rum brands" for potential acquisitions.
Based in Merseyside, Halewood Wines & Spirits was founded by the late John Halewood in 1978. Today, still owned by the Halewood family, Halewood International Holdings PLC is the United Kingdom’s largest independent drinks manufacturer and distributor. Halewood shows sales of over 21 million cases each year and exporting to 75 countries. Employing 1,000 drinks specialists worldwide, the Halewood Wines & Spirits group has five operations outside the United Kingdom, including South Africa, China, Thailand, Ireland and Romania. In addition their global brands, Red Square, Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer, Lambrini and Whitley Neill, Halewood International offers full service support for Agency Brands in the United Kingdom and international markets.
RUM SIXTY SIX Family Reserve is small batch distilled, tropically aged 12 years in small American white oak casks and bottled at Foursquare Distillery, one of the last family-owned distilleries in the Caribbean. Halewood is planning to expand the Rum Sixty Six by adding a six-year-old and a cask strength 12-year-old expression to the portfolio in 2017. 
