Whiskey House of Kentucky, a contract distillery in the United States, successfully closed a five-year, $115 million syndicated credit facility from Truist Bank, U.S. Bank, First Horizon Bank, Rabobank and CoBank. Whiskey House commenced operations on July 1, and the financing closed on July 19, consisting of a $90 million senior secured term loan and a $25 million revolving credit facility. The financing also provides flexibility to raise up to $50 million in additional funding as part of an incremental facility.
The proceeds of the financing will be used to refinance the company’s existing construction loans, fund future growth expenditure of the company and provide liquidity for working capital needs. Concurrent with the transaction, Whiskey House also received a five-year commitment for approximately $30 million of junior capital.
“We could not be more excited by the successful completion of our recent capital raise,” David Mandell, co-founder and CEO of Whiskey House, said. “The magnitude of the deal and the support of some of the leading banks in the region not only demonstrates the strength of our business, the stability of our customers and contracts and the confidence of our financial partners, but also provides us with immense flexibility to respond to our customers’ needs. This includes the expansion of our production capacity, the addition of incremental services and the pursuit of complementary acquisitions.”
“Whiskey House of Kentucky is at the forefront of innovation when it comes to production and technology, and the company is poised to change the industry for brands of all sizes,” Joe Goode, beverage industry manager of Truist, said. “We saw the vision of the management team and Whiskey House of Kentucky early on, and this transaction leverages our regional banking and corporate finance teams alongside deep industry connectivity to create a unique financing structure that will propel this great company into the next phase of its growth.”
Truist Bank, U.S. Bank, First Horizons Bank, Rabobank and CoBank provided the financing. Rothschild served as the exclusive financial advisor to Whiskey House and assisted in arranging the financing. Holland & Knight acted as legal counsel to Whiskey House and Jones Day acted as legal counsel to the lenders.
