Conor McGregor's Irish whiskey brand sells for up to $600M
Conor McGregor is cashing in on the booze business.
The UFC fighter and his partners have sold their majority stake in Proper No. Twelve Irish whiskey for a deal worth up to $600 million. Proximo Spirts, which previously held a 49% stake in the brand, is the buyer. Proximo owns Jose Cuervo and Bushmills among other liquor brands in its portfolio.
Both sides confirmed the transaction to industry publication Shanken News Daily on Tuesday. McGregor and his partners Audie Attar and Ken Austin will retain a stake. How much Proximo now owns beyond its controlling interest was not revealed. Nor were the parameters defining how the deal would reach the $600 million total.
"When we started this business with Proximo, we basically laid out, I’ll call it certain hurdles, that would allow them to buy pieces of the company over time,” Austin told Proximo. “We hit a milestone and it gave Proximo the opportunity to own a significant stake.”
The $600 million figure includes $250 million Proximo previously paid in the partnership, according to Austin.
McGregor will remain the brand's front man
It also sounds like McGregor will continue as the face of the brand. McGregor is frequently seen on his social media and television ads promoting Proper No. Twelve. Austin teased a promotion of the whiskey around McGregor's upcoming fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 on July 10.
“Conor is very, very fixated on this being a multi-million case brand," Austin told Shanken. "I wouldn’t count him out ever.”
McGregor also sounds as dedicated as ever to selling the brand.
“Proper Twelve is my baby for life!" McGregor said per his website The Mac Life in a story confirming the news.
That story includes a picture of a beaming McGregor carrying a case of the whiskey in each arm while exiting a private plane.
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