Uncle Nearest Receiver Files Letter of Intent to Sell the Whiskey Brand

Nine months after being named receiver of Uncle Nearest, Inc., Phillip G. Young, Jr., filed a non-binding letter of intent to sell the embattled whiskey brand this past Friday. The filing comes just three days after the case’s presiding judge denied founder Fawn Weaver’s motion to reverse the company’s receivership.

Young will potentially hand all assets of the company — with the exception of three — to an undisclosed, African-American-owned investment firm, should the court approve the sale. The possible buyer has signed a non-disclosure agreement and will remain anonymous until the sale is finalized, which is expected to happen within 45 days.

The transaction does not include the company’s properties in Edgartown, Mass., and Cognac, France, nor any assets of Grant Sidney, Inc. Young previously eyed buyers for both the Massachusetts and Cognac properties. What will become of the outstanding assets remains a question.

Limited details are available about the brand’s forthcoming owner. The buyer intends to maintain the brand’s current workforce, leverage strategic partnerships to boost sales, and honor its existing cultural significance, Young says in the letter of intent.

The transfer in ownership will end Young’s nine-month stint as Uncle Nearest’s receiver. He was granted control of the business last August after the company’s lender, Farm Credit-Mid America, filed a suit against Weaver for defaulting on over $108 million. One month later, Farm Credit motioned to expand the receivership after discovering additional assets within Uncle Nearest, Inc. Weaver then motioned to terminate the receivership in December, which the case’s judge denied last Tuesday.

More details about Uncle Nearest’s buyer, ownership structure, and future brand strategies will emerge if the court approves the sale.

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