Nephin Whiskey appoints two new Ukrainian directors in boardroom shake-up after husband and wife co-founders quit roles

Files submitted to the Companies Registration Office show Tamara Antonova (70) and Halyna Matiyash (73), two Ukrainian nationals living in Co Dublin, were appointed as directors of Nephin Whiskey on February 3, 2024. On the same day, co-founders Paul and Jude Davis, who are married, resigned from roles as directors and secretary. They remain as shareholders.

Nephin Whiskey also filed a change of registered office address to a unit in Malahide, Co Dublin.

Over the last fortnight, the Sunday Independent has attempted to contact a lawyer it was told represented Nephin Whiskey and various professional services firms filing documents for the company at the CRO, but received no response. Other efforts to contact the company and directors failed.

In 2013, Paul and Jude Davis shared their plans to open the whiskey distillery in Lahardane, Co Mayo, alongside Mark Quick. The following year, former taoiseach Enda Kenny announced the establishment of the distillery, with a report in the Irish Independent stating production “should be up and running by the end of 2015”.

Nearly a decade since the Nephin Whiskey plans were announced, the distillery building is yet to be completed. However, the Sunday Independent understands much of the equipment is now on site.

Nephin initially raised €4.5m in equity funding and €1.5m in loans for the establishment of its distillery in Mayo.

However, Nephin’s progress was stalled in 2020 as Covid-19 lockdowns took effect and then a long-running dispute occurred between the distillery’s founders, with Paul and Jude Davis on one side and former director Mark Quick on the other.​

The dispute, first reported in the Business Post in 2021, was over the direction the company was taking at the time.

Nephin Whiskey’s AGM that year was delayed.

The dispute between the parties led to cases in both the High Court and the Workplace Relations Commission.

The High Court proceedings brought by Quick in 2021 claimed shareholder oppression by Paul and Jude Davis under the 2014 Companies Act.

Quick sought a number of orders including that the couple sell their shares to him or they purchase his shares. Alternatively, he wanted an order regulating the conduct of the company's affairs.

Firm said upcoming investment funds would come from two sources, an initial Immigrant Investor Programme fund of €500,000 and a final tranche

Quick also wanted the court to require Davis, as secretary of the firm, to call an AGM and that they pay him compensation.

The couple opposed the action and denied claims of oppression.

The case was ultimately settled in October 2022.

In Nephin Whiskey’s most recently filed accounts for 2021, the company said it was actively seeking further investment.

The whiskey firm said upcoming investment funds would come from two sources, an initial IIP (Immigrant Investor Programme) of €500,000 and a final tranche of funding.

However, the accounts stated the figure had not been agreed and was “subject to ongoing negotiations”.

Nephin Whiskey’s accounts also state how the pandemic had affected the company, including the delayed commissioning of equipment from a supplier in Italy.

Without funding, ‘the company would be unlikely to be in a position to continue to trade’

The company said it was committed to capital expenditure of around €1.1m at the balance sheet date, which was necessary to complete the installation and commissioning of the plant. This would allow it to start whiskey production.

However, at the date of approval of the financial statements, Nephin said it had not obtained commitments in respect of the funding required. It was confident the funding could be secured.

Without the additional funding required, the directors said “the company would be unlikely to be in a position to continue to trade and to meet its day-to-day expenditure requirements”.

The accounts for 2021 show Nephin’s retained losses rose from €1.4m to €1.6m.

The company had fixed assets of €4.3m, most of which was plant and machinery worth €2.9m and a leasehold valued at €1.1m.

Nephin Whiskey also had current assets worth €431,700, made up of whiskey stocks of €292,066, amounts owed by debtors of €127,025, and cash of €12,609.