Andrew Tan-led Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Emperador Distillers Inc., has acquired 100 percent of Spanish brandy company Bodega San Bruno S.A., which will enable Emperador solidify its position as the world’s top brandy firm worldwide.

AGI, through a disclosure filed at the Philippine Stock Exchange, said that Emperador Distillers has entered into an agreement with González Byass S.A., one the largest and oldest liquor and wine conglomerates in Spain, for the acquisition of its subsidiary Bodega San Bruno S.A, a brandy company based in Jerez, Spain.

The disclosure further divulged that Emperador will acquire a 100-percent interest in Bodega San Bruno.

 “The acquisition will include the San Bruno trademark, which has been registered since 1942,” AGI said.

“It also comprises vineyards in Jerez, the brandy-producing region of Spain, as well as a sizable inventory of high-quality and well-matured brandy, now being stored and aged in sherry casks in the bodegas, or wineries, in Jerez,” it added.

Winston Co, the president of Emperador Distillers, said that the acquisition of Bodega San Bruno will enable Emperador to own one of the world’s best brandy stocks —some of it quite rare and aged for more than 40 years in bodegas.

“This acquisition will also further strengthen our position as the world’s no. 1 brandy company by volume and help boost our competitiveness as a global brandy producer,” he added.

 Emperador sold more than 31 million cases of brandy in 2012. It is now the largest liquor company in the Philippines. Earlier, AGI President Kingson Sian said that through Emperador’s 50-percent market contribution, AGI was able to uphold its strong brand equity.

“Of the top five most popular liquor brands in the world, Emperador posted the fastest sales growth of a liquor brand,” he noted.

“We believe that by next year, we will be replacing Smirnoff as the largest liquor company in the world across all different countries,” Sian added.

Meanwhile, AGI is going to expand its capital expenditure for 2013 from P35 billion to P40 billion.

Andrew Tan, AGI chairman, previously said that that they are increasing capital spending because the Philippine economy and their company are doing well.

“Next year, all the units combined, I think we should be incurring a capex [capital expense] of more than P40 billion next year, tourism, real estate, even the consumer goods, all of them are expanding. We are very bullish about the economy,” he said.

Tan also said that AGI did well last year and he expects that trend to continue in 2013.

He also noted that AGI has exceeded its P9-billion profit projection for 2012.