Booker acquires wine and spirit merchant Venus

British wholesaler Booker has acquired family-run wine and spirit merchant Venus for an undisclosed sum.

 

The move enables the subsidiary of Tesco to bolster its on-trade portfolio through the addition of Venus’ range of over 2,000 spirits, beers, wines and soft drinks.

 

Venus was founded in 1975 and has three distribution centres in Tottenham, Bristol and Leeds.

 

It will keep its original branding under new ownership, with 140 Venus staff set to join the wider Booker team.

 

Neil Jewsbury, who drove the £3.7b integration of Booker and Tesco in 2017 and spearheaded Booker’s acquisition of Venus, has been appointed managing director of the wines and spirits arm of the business.

 

He will focus on growing Booker-Venus’ presence in the on-trade market.

 

Andrew Yaxley, chief executive of Booker, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Venus into the Booker family and can’t wait to start working with them to bring their fantastic range to more customers across the UK. By combining the specialist expertise and premium products from the Venus team with Booker’s experience in providing food and drink nationwide, we look forward to offering customers an unmatched ‘Food and Alcohol’ proposition on the market.”

 

Laki Christoforou, founder of Venus, added: “I am incredibly proud of my team and the business we have built. This is an exciting opportunity for Venus to scale up and explore the growth potential across the UK. I am looking forward to working alongside Booker to realise the full potential that this partnership can bring.”