Tad Smith, an American investor best known as the former CEO of Sotheby’s, has taken up a position in the Gozo-based craft brewery Lord Chambray.

Lord Chambray Founder and CEO Samuele D’Imperio shared the news exclusively with WhosWho.mt, revealing that Mr Smith became a shareholder in Malta’s largest craft brewery in 2022.

Mr Smith actually reached out to Mr D’Imperio back in 2019, when he was still CEO of Sotheby’s, and a regular visitor to Europe due to the global auction and real estate firm’s interests in the region.

“He likes to buy stocks in different countries, but found that the market capitalisation and liquidity of the Malta Stock Exchange did not align with his strategy,” shares Mr D’Imperio, as we sit in his small office at the Lord Chambray plant in Xewkija’s Gozitano Agricultural Village.

An experienced investor, Mr Smith did his research into fast-growing companies on the islands to discover potential opportunities for investment, and came across the Lord Chambray story.

“We met in the afternoon at [Lord Chambray stockist] 67 Kapitali in Valletta, and asked how he could help,” says Mr D’Imperio.

“At the time, I didn’t need any help, but we struck up a relationship and kept in touch.”

Mr Smith returned to Malta in 2021, and the pair evaluated the possibility of opening the company to new shareholders, paving the way for the American entrepreneur and investor to take a 10 per cent position in Lord Chambray.

However, Mr D’Imperio makes it clear that the investment “was not about the money.”

He describes Tad Smith as a mix of [former Italian Prime Minister and former President of the European Central Bank] Mario Draghi and [automobile executive] Sergio Marchionne.

“Mario Draghi, because he has a real solid academic background, graduating from Princeton and Harvard and having a career as a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

“Sergio Marchionne, because he was successful wherever he went. Madison Square Gardens, where he doubled profits. Sotheby’s, where he led the delisting of the company in a €3.5 billion deal.”

Mr D’Imperio believes that Mr Smith’s profile and CV may lead to new connections and opportunities for the brewery.

Mr D’Imperio attributes the connection, in part, to Malta’s “capacity to attract interesting people” and its size, which makes it easier for projects like his to stand out.

“With 60 million people, as there are in Italy, it is difficult to catch the attention of renowned investors.”

Asked whether the partnership has had a tangible impact on Lord Chambray, Mr D’Imperio says Mr Smith’s involvement has been as a wonderful sounding board for ideas and as a mentor.

“When I want advice or feedback on ideas, we have a chat – which I have found incredibly useful.”

Lord Chambray aims to first consolidate its position in the local market, and despite collaboration with several leading craft breweries, including Denmark’s To Øl, Italy’s Baladin, and Taiwan’s Taihu Brewing, among others, it has not yet tapped into the export market.

“So far, our strategy has been to focus on Malta. There is still room to grow here.”

Why Gozo?

Lord Chambray was founded 2014, becoming the first craft brewery on the Maltese Islands.

Mr D’Imperio’s family has played an important role in Lord Chambray’s development, including the decision to set up operations in Gozo.

“My parents came across an advert for Gozo in a magazine some 40 years ago,” he says. “They came, fell in love with it, and since then have regularly visited the island for holidays.”

Looking at his parents’ background, it is perhaps no surprise that Mr D’Imperio went down the entrepreneurial route.

Now retired, his father Roberto D’Imperio is an accomplished chartered accountant and former representative of Italy to the International Federation of Accountants, while his mother Francesca Fasani was a horse breeder.

Ms Fasani is the daughter of an entrepreneur who set up an industrial valve company in northern Italy’s ‘Valley of Faucets’ and worked with companies like ENI and Aramco, providing valves for oil and gas pipelines. The company was later sold to the US firm Tyco Group, which later merged with Pentair.

“Back in 2013, we were looking at diversifying our investments, and craft beer was of course rapidly gaining in popularity. We initially thought of setting up a brewery on the grounds of the family farm in Ispra, but when researching the Italian market, we concluded that it was already too saturated.”

The craft beer industry had not yet reached Malta’s shores, however, so the family took the plunge and invested in Gozo, taking the idea of the name from the Fort Chambray development, where Mr D’Imperio resides today.

Growth in Malta

So far, Mr Smith is Lord Chambray’s first and only external investor, although Mr D’Imperio says other offers did come in the company’s early days – which he refused.

The strategy to focus on the local market is seemingly successful, with Lord Chambray reporting 30 per cent year-on-year growth, and a staggering 65 per cent increase in revenues for September 2024 when compared to the same month in 2023.

“We are registering double-digit growth every year,” he says, “even though we now have more competition than when we started.”

Intensifying competition has also had a market-making effect, increasing awareness about craft beers in general.

“In the beginning, it was not easy to explain to local and tourists alike that we are offering a beer that is three, four times the cost of other available options, with a rich flavour unlike anything they have tasted before,” says Mr D’Imperio, describing the journey so far as “a long, rocky road”.

Lord Chambray sought to establish itself, in those early years, by competing for recognition in international awards – “it’s how you prove that your beer has a particular attractive quality” – and hosting events where attendees could taste the beers on offer.

“We also use local names, like San Blas, Blue Lagoon, Golden Bay, Fungus Rock,” he continues. “We are aware that we are foreigners here, but to be successful, we needed to involve the local community and present ourselves as a local company.”

Today, Lord Chambray is on track to win one per cent of the local beer market. A small share, when compared to the major beer producer, Farsons, and importer, GSD, but comparatively astronomical when compared to craft beer market shares abroad.

“In Italy, craft beer sales account for three per cent of the craft beer market. However, this three per cent share is split between a thousand microbreweries. So there is really no comparison to what we are able to do here in Malta.”

That success has enabled Lord Chambray to beat its own initial financial projections, Mr D’Imperio says.

“As with any startup, there’s a capital risk. We invested €1 million to open the company, accumulated over €500,000 in losses between 2014 and 2017, in part due to the very high depreciation costs on our equipment. By 2019, however, we broke even – long before we forecast. We had estimated that our break-even point would be reached in nine years – we did it in five.”

Mr D’Imperio concludes: “So really, the Lord Chambray team really are doing an extraordinary job, and the future is looking good.”