Magners maker to buy US firm Vermont amid weak UK sales Ireland's C&C will buy US firm Vermont Hard Cider, which produces Woodchuck, in a deal expected to complete next February, although analysts immediately dismissed the acquisition for being priced too high. The Irish company said the move was a chance to diversify into fast-growing markets and smooth over "volatility" in domestic UK and Ireland trade, which has seen a slump due the wet summer. Group revenues fell 2pc in the six months to August to EUR263m (£214m). Operating profit over the period was EUR65.6m, 2.7pc lower year-on-year. Sales of Magners in the United States leapt 16pc over the period, compared with a 17pc fall in the UK, where the brand faces growing competition. Kenny Neison, group chief financial officer at C&C, said: "The summer just hasn't happened in terms of barbecues, parties, etc. But it's no more than that ... there are no long term messages to be read into the cider category. He added the London 2012 Olympics had "failed to provide volume uplift" in sales. Mr Neison said the business had made itself "more resilient" over the past three years, such as by purchasing Gaymers in late 2009. "Diversification into the US market helps us further cope with the domestic side of market challenges," he said. C&C, which also sells Tennants lager and cider under the Bulmers and Gaymers brands, said yesterday operating profit for the year to February 2013 would be at the lower end of its previously stated guidance of EUR112-118m. Analysts at Canaccord Genuity said the acquisition price for Vermont was too high, labelling the deal "value destructive." Vermont will need an increase in capital expenditure of $30m and marketing costs are likely to rise from 2pc of sales to 10pc as competition rises in the US, analyst Wayne Brown said. Mr Neison said that C&C would indeed invest between $25-30m next year in a manufacturing factory, and increase marketing spend, but he insisted it had "not been a cheap acquisition." "We're buying a market-leading brand in the US," he said.