The Paddington Corp Announces Merger with Pelican Brands

INDIANAPOLIS, June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Paddington Corporation today announced the completion of a merger with Pelican Brands, LLC. The combined company will be known as Paddington Brands, LLC. Paddington is based in Carmel, IN and also has offices in Napa, CA and 3rd party warehousing in NJ and CA. Paddington owns Tequila 3 Amigos, the Napa Smith Brewery & Winery, and is the exclusive Importer and U.S. sales agent for a prestigious portfolio of wine and spirit brands.

Since January, Paddington, through outside investors, has injected nearly $1 million into the business to expand Napa Smith Beer and Tequila 3 Amigos in multiple markets throughout the US. The Company is committed to rolling out both brands nationally in 2011.

J. Smoke Wallin, Chairman & CEO of Paddington Brands, said, "Paddington understands what today's consumer wants- authentic, hand crafted brands with a great taste. Our team has deep industry knowledge of the distribution and retail tiers of the business providing a rapid national route-to-market in all segments of beverage alcohol."

Our Brands

- Napa Smith Brewery & Winery: Napa Smith Beer, now available in 32 states, is a unique brand that brings the best of Napa Valley in quality and lifestyle to the fastest growing segment of the beverage industry, Craft Beer. Our brew master, Don Barkley, has been brewing amazing craft beers since 1979. Napa Smith Winery has produced award-winning wines in the past three years and is sold primarily in the Western U.S.

- Tequila 3 Amigos: Paddington's partner in Tequila 3 Amigos is the Gonzalez family of Arizona and Mexico, where they have grown agave for generations. Paddington has announced partnerships for Tequila 3 Amigos with major NASCAR venues including Talladega, Phoenix International Raceway, California's Auto Club Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Kansas, and Michigan International Speedways. Tequila 3 Amigos has had three named races in the past year including the 3 Amigos Tequila Talladega 250 ARCA race in April. The Company expects Tequila 3 Amigos to be distributed in over 25 states by year-end.

- Chase Distillery: Paddington also imports the Herefordshire, UK-based Chase Distillery's Chase Vodka and Elderflower Liqueur and has launched it in ten states in the U.S.

- Paddington Wines: Since January 2011, Paddington has sold Agoston Wines from Spain into 4,085 Walgreens stores in thirty-one states. Agoston has also consistently received 90+ points in the Penin Wine Rating Guide. Paddington Brands also represents: Calatrasi from Italy, award-winning Gemtree from McLaren Vale Australia, and Brent Marris's newest venture, Marisco Wines - The Kings Series and The Ned.

Wallin continued, "The new Paddington Brands is an exciting company that aligns an extremely talented group of industry leaders with explosive growth brands. We plan to build on our momentum as a brand investor and incubator. We are also continuing to selectively and opportunistically make acquisitions providing us additional scale."

About Paddington

The Paddington Corp. was built upon a rich tradition of some of the industry's greatest brands. In 1937, Charles Guttman founded the original Paddington Corporation, which became the exclusive importer of Justerini & Brooks Ltd. (J&B) scotch, and a very successful creator of brands including Bailey's Irish Cream. Paddington was acquired by several large conglomerates in the 1960s - 1980s and eventually became a division of Diageo, the world's largest spirits company. Diageo later folded the Paddington entity into its larger North American sales force and it has remained dormant until now. The new Paddington Brands, LLC, though a completely independent and unaffiliated company, draws on this rich tradition of building brands over the long term that Charles Guttman started so many years ago.

Paddington is headquartered in Carmel, IN, with offices in the United Kingdom and Napa, CA and a sales team covering the U.S. market and select international markets. Paddington is actively seeking acquisitions in the wine, spirits, beer and non-alcoholic beverage space. Follow us on Facebook http://on.fb.me/afmdBU and on Twitter @paddingtonbrands and on the web at www.paddingtonbrands.com.

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SOURCE Paddington Brands