Experience, applied with care.
Manish
Rungta
Manish founded Caelum Capital in 2021 to bring institutional discipline and operating depth to established consumer businesses and the companies that supply them.
He has spent more than two decades on the buy side, across private equity, corporate development and M&A advisory, working in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, and for most of that time in consumer goods and the industries that serve them. His approach is thematic and proprietary: he builds deal pipelines around a clear view of a sector and reaches owners directly, long before a sale process begins. He is an operator by instinct, and most of his time is spent inside the businesses he owns rather than above them.
Before founding Caelum Capital he was Managing Director at Duet Private Equity, a London based investor with a significant focus on the beverage sector, where he built the private equity team, set its investment strategy and originated and led a corporate carve out of a beverage business from a multinational consumer group. Earlier he was a member of the Global M&A team at Diageo, working on acquisitions, the disposal of non core businesses, distribution agreements and strategic joint ventures.
At Caelum Capital he sourced and led the acquisition of Compass Box Whisky in 2022, a proprietary corporate carve out from Bacardi completed outside any auction. Since then he has worked hands on in the business alongside its management: rebuilding the US route to market and the AI led sales engine behind it, shaping the brand and product portfolio, strengthening supplier and quality standards, planning whisky stocks and maturation, and building the leadership team. He sits on the board of Compass Box Whisky, leads Caelum Capital's origination and investment decisions, holds an MBA from INSEAD and is based in London.
Our team and advisers bring more than 100 years of combined operational, investment and brand building experience, from corporate development and private equity to running production, sales and whole regions for global drinks and consumer groups, together with long standing relationships across the consumer sector. We are operators first, and we work inside the businesses we own.
Mark has nearly three decades of strategic, operational and financial planning experience in the beverage sector. He leads value creation at Caelum Capital and works inside the businesses we own, alongside their management teams, on strategy, operations, route to market and the plans that turn an investment case into results. At Compass Box Whisky he works with the team on operations and commercial planning.
As an entrepreneur, Mark founded and led an independent management consultancy for more than 13 years, focused on strategic planning and operational improvement for businesses in the beverage sector across many markets. Before that he spent 11 years in senior planning and operational roles at SABMiller. His expertise spans commercial due diligence, strategy formulation, route to market development, business planning, new business launches and the implementation of systems and processes. He holds a BSc in Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand and is based in the United Kingdom.
Shalini has well over a decade of experience in accounting, audit and investment operations. She manages the accounting, operations and control functions of Caelum Capital and its investment structures, including financial reporting to shareholders, statutory audits and the periodic valuation process, and supports the finance functions of the businesses we own.
Before joining Caelum Capital she was Group Financial Controller at Epic Investment Partners, a UK private equity firm, where she was responsible for the administration and group accounts of 19 companies. She previously spent eight years as an external statutory auditor with EY. Shalini is a qualified UK accountant with the ACCA and holds a management degree from IIM Ahmedabad.
The founder and our industry advisers have long standing relationships. Our advisers bring decades of leadership across production, finance, strategy and transactions, and work with us on origination, diligence and value creation.
Alan has spent six decades in the drinks industry, since joining Scottish & Newcastle Breweries in 1966. Throughout the 1990s he was Scotch Whisky Production Director of United Distillers, later Diageo, responsible for maltings, distilleries, cooperages, maturation warehouses, blending, bottling and logistics, having earlier been Managing Director of Scottish Malt and Grain Distillers. He initiated the creation of the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling at Heriot Watt University and the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, was President of the Malt Distillers' Association of Scotland and served ten years on the Council of the Scotch Whisky Association.
Appointed OBE in 1996 for services to the Scotch whisky industry and a Master of the Quaich, he advises whisky companies and major banks on the valuation of stocks, brands and fixed assets, and has chaired Compass Box Whisky and The Lakes Distillery. PhD in Chemical Engineering; Chartered Chemist and Chartered Engineer.
Neil has led and built consumer and beverage businesses for more than thirty five years. He was President and Chief Executive of Allied Domecq Europe, a £1 billion division spanning more than 40 countries and 2,000 people, after running the group's Iberian business. As an Industry Partner at Oaktree Capital Management and then Group Chief Executive and Executive Chairman of Stock Spirits Group, he built Central Europe's leading spirits company, which later listed on the London Stock Exchange.
He founded Brockmans Gin, now sold in more than 50 countries, and is Chairman of Compass Box Whisky and of Rye River Brewing Company. He served on the International Board of YPO and is a graduate of the INSEAD Advanced Management Programme.
