Canada, ON: Diageo confirms no buyer found yet for Crown Royal facility in Ontario

Diageo has confirmed it has not yet been approached by a suitable buyer that could continue operations at its Crown Royal facility in Ontario, Yahoo! Finance reported on October 20.

The Tanqueray gin producer announced in August that it plans to sell the plant in Amherstburg. It intends to cease operations there by February and has since entered talks with the Unifor trade union.

In a statement, a Diageo spokesperson said: “Our current focus is on engaging with the union and supporting our employees, and so we do not plan to list the property until after we have concluded negotiations with Unifor.

"However, if prior to that there were to be a potential purchaser with a credible plan to continue operating the facility as a going concern who committed upfront to retain unionised jobs, we would certainly engage in discussions.

"We have not yet been approached by any such party.”

In an interview last week with local outlet CTV News, Amherstburg mayor Michael Prue said an unidentified alcoholic drinks business had been in talks with town authorities around the takeover of the Diageo plant.

"We have had discussions with one group and that one group wants to use the Diageo plant and produce alcoholic beverages. It would be a much larger operation than Diageo," he said.

The number of employees set to be impacted by the Crown Royal site closure was not disclosed in August. A separate statement from Unifor, which represents staff at the Amherstburg facility, said at the time that its members were "prepared to fight to save the 170 union jobs”.

At the time of the closure announcement, Diageo said the move was “part of an ongoing commitment to increase the efficiency and resiliency of its manufacturing footprint”.

The group planned to retain its Canadian headquarters and warehouse operations in the Greater Toronto area, as well as bottling and distillation locations in Valleyfield, Quebec, and in Gimbli, Manitoba.

"Through this process, the company will unlock additional productivity and increase resiliency and capacity to scale, effectively meeting demand across its markets and shifting some bottling volume to be closer to its many US Crown Royal consumers,” Diageo said.

In September, Ontario premier Doug Ford reportedly said Diageo would “pay dearly” for closing a local bottling facility in the Canadian province.

“I promise you that Diageo will pay the price and they’re going to pay dearly. We’ll just wait until the last person walks out that door and then we’ll act,” Ford said on 5 September, according to local outlet Global News.

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