UK Edition
Cheers! Co-founder of Fever-Tree tonic water makes £73m from selling shares
One of the founders of premium drinks brand Fever-Tree has sold a stake of around 4pc in the company for more than £70m.
Charles Rolls has cashed in on 4.5m shares at a price of £16.25, the company announced.
Mr Rolls originally intended to sell 2.5m shares, but increased the sell-off “due to significant institutional demand”.
He still has a stake of more than 11pc in the company that he co-founded with chief executive Tim Warrilow.
The company announced earlier this year that Mr Rolls would be moving from his role as Fever-Tree’s executive deputy chairman to a non-executive position.
Mr Warrilow told the Telegraph that the company has been focused on increasing the size of its senior management team, leading to Mr Rolls “standing back from the day-to-day and concentrating much more on the strategy of the business”.
Fever-Tree has consistently smashed market expectations, with its share price soaring from the 134p at which they floated in November 2014.
In its preliminary results for 2016, Fever-Tree said profits before tax soared from £16.8m in 2015 to £34.3m last year, an increase of 105pc.
The upmarket tonic water has thrived amid the renaissance of gin, and was last year’s best performing stock on London’s junior Aim market.
It said its focus this year was on expanding further into the US market, where it wants to strengthen its presence with its dark spirit range.