Diageo confirms plans to sell 27 acres of Dublin brewery site

News

Nigel Stirling

09 May 2008

Diageo is to close most of its St James’s Gate Guinness brewery in Dublin and sell half of the 55-acre site by 2013, the company announced this morning.

The drinks giant, which has owned Guinness since 1997, said it would sell off 30 acres of the iconic site as part of a €650m investment programme in Ireland.

Breweries at Dundalk, north of Dublin, and Kilkenny will be shut, while what remains of St James’s Gate brewery will be “upgraded and consolidated” to produce the stout for the Irish and British markets only.

A new “state of the art” brewery will be built by early 2013, on a site yet to be announced but near Dublin, the company said.

The new brewery will replace St James’s Gate as Ireland’s largest and will produce mainly for the export market.

At St James’s Gate, Diageo will sell the keg plant and yard, which is partly bound by Heuston Station to the west and Thomas and James’s Street to the south and Walting Street to the east.

The brewery will be consolidated into the south eastern corner of this same block.

The block bound James’s Street and Thomas Street to the north, Crane Street to the east and Market and Bellevue Streets to the south, with the exception of the Guinness Storehouse, will be sold off.

The storehouse, which attracts up to 900,000 visitors a year, will be expanded as part of the investment programme, the company said.

The future of the St James’s Gate brewery, where Arthur Guinness first brewed the stout in 1749, has been uncertain for some time.

The brew house is near the end of its life and there are understood to be logistical difficulties with expanding production on the site.

Diageo said this morning that the company had been reviewing the future of the site for the last 12 months.

Plans to dig under the keg yard to build a rail link eastwards between Heuston and Connolly stations also placed a question mark over the site’s continued viability.

Property sources put a market value of €3bn on the entire site when it was mooted earlier last year that Diageo was contemplating selling.

The company this morning put a combined €500m value on the Dundalk and Kilkenny sites and the “surplus” land at St James’s Gate that will be sold.

Chief executive Paul Walsh said the investment programme that had led to the downsizing of the world-famous Dublin brewery would be its single largest since Grand Metropolitan merged with Guinness in 1997 to form the drinks giant.

Sales of Guinness rose by 6% in the second half of last year worldwide, while sales in Ireland after declining in recent years were up 3%.

Diageo is to close most of its St James’s Gate Guinness brewery in Dublin and sell half of the 55-acre site by 2013, the company announced this morning. The drinks giant, which has owned Guinness since 1997, said it would sell off 30 acres of the iconic site as part of a €650m investment programme in Ireland. Breweries at Dundalk, north of Dublin, and Kilkenny will be shut, while what remains of St James’s Gate brewery will be “upgraded and consolidated” to produce the stout for the Irish and British markets only. A new “state of the art” brewery will be built by early 2013, on a site yet to be announced but near Dublin, the company said. The new brewery will replace St James’s Gate as Ireland’s largest and will produce mainly for the export market. At St James’s Gate, Diageo will sell the keg plant and yard, which is partly bound by Heuston Station to the west and Thomas and James’s Street to the south and Walting Street to the east. The brewery will be consolidated into the south eastern corner of this same block. The block bound James’s Street and Thomas Street to the north, Crane Street to the east and Market and Bellevue Streets to the south, with the exception of the Guinness Storehouse, will be sold off. The storehouse, which attracts up to 900,000 visitors a year, will be expanded as part of the investment programme, the company said. The future of the St James’s Gate brewery, where Arthur Guinness first brewed the stout in 1749, has been uncertain for some time. The brew house is near the end of its life and there are understood to be logistical difficulties with expanding production on the site. Diageo said this morning that the company had been reviewing the future of the site for the last 12 months. Plans to dig under the keg yard to build a rail link eastwards between Heuston and Connolly stations also placed a question mark over the site’s continued viability. Property sources put a market value of €3bn on the entire site when it was mooted earlier last year that Diageo was contemplating selling. The company this morning put a combined €500m value on the Dundalk and Kilkenny sites and the “surplus” land at St James’s Gate that will be sold. Chief executive Paul Walsh said the investment programme that had led to the downsizing of the world-famous Dublin brewery would be its single largest since Grand Metropolitan merged with Guinness in 1997 to form the drinks giant. Sales of Guinness rose by 6% in the second half of last year worldwide, while sales in Ireland after declining in recent years were up 3%.