Aussie winemakers bid to buy UK’s Chapel Down after firm put itself up for sale to raise £30million
A TAKEOVER from Down Under could be on the cards for Chapel Down, the UK’s biggest wine maker.
Treasury Wine Estates, the Aussie producer of Blossom Hill and Wolf Blass plonk, is understood to be going head-to-head with its Oz rival Accolade Wines, sources have said.
Chapel Down, the UK’s biggest winemaker, put itself up for sale last month to raise £30million to fund more vineyards.
Sources said the sale run by bankers at Rothschild was at an early stage and interest from other rivals could still emerge.
The firm based in Tenterden, Kent, only moved to London’s junior Aim market in December and is valued at £128.6million.
It popped the cork on a sale process after unveiling plans to double production by 2026 following a boom for English winemakers.
Harvests have been helped by warm and wet weather while Chapel Down’s sparkling wine has beaten Moet Champagne in blind taste tests in Paris.
Treasury Wine Estates is well known to Chapel Down with the Sussex vineyard’s boss Andrew Carter having previously worked for the Australian winemaker.
It is listed on the Oz stock exchange with a AU$10billion (£5billion) valuation.
Rival Accolade Wines which makes Hardys and Jam Shed has been on the acquisition trail.
Yesterday Accolade struck a deal to buy Jacobs Creek and Campo Viejo wine brands from Malibu and Beefeater Gin maker Pernod Ricard for an undisclosed sum.
Accolade is owned by private equity firm Bain Capital after a financial restructuring in February.
Australia’s wine industry is still recovering from Chinese tariffs brought in after the pandemic which cost the industry about £500million.
In March these 218 per cent tariffs ended as diplomatic tensions thawed.
At the time Accolade boss Robert Foye called the removal “very positive news”. But the extreme tariffs prompted both companies to explore opportunities in Europe and America.
A Chapel Down spokesman declined to comment.
Egy-jet holidays
EASYJET sent ancient Egyptian gods to Cleopatra’s Needle in London yesterday as holiday demand recovers from the Gaza conflict.
The budget airline is set to launch new winter sun flights to Luxor and Sharm El Sheik.
The carrier is also flogging a cruise package holiday down the Nile, hoping it will aid growth after organised tours made them over £1billion in sales last year.
Virgin 6yr merger
NATIONWIDE has said it could take up to six years to absorb Virgin Money after its £2.9billion takeover.
After blocking members voting on the deal, building society boss Debbie Crosbie yesterday said Virgin Money will have branches for another four to six years because of “challenges” to integrating IT systems.
Ms Crosbie said she was “very confident that the profits will more than cover any costs of integrating the business”.
Amazon ‘no’ vote to union
AMAZON workers at the online giant’s Coventry warehouse have voted against a landmark deal to form a trade union.
The GMB yesterday said it narrowly lost its bid for union recognition receiving 49.5 per cent of the 2,600 workers’ votes.
This was just shy of the majority required. Had it succeeded it would have marked the first time Amazon had recognised a union in the UK.
Union officials claimed bosses used an “unrelenting campaign” of anti-union tactics, including a QR code that generated emails to cancel membership.
Amazon said minimum starting pay has increased over two years to between £12.30 and £13 an hour. But GMB official Stuart Richards said the fight for worker “pay and recognition” would continue.
The union wants to raise the issue with the Government which has made beefed-up employment law a key promise.
CVC eyes buyout of paper
THE owner of a stake in Six Nations rugby is plotting a takeover of The Telegraph newspaper group.
CVC, one of the world’s biggest private equity firms, is lining up a bid, The Telegraph reported yesterday.
It comes after a proposed takeover by an Abu Dhabi-backed fund, Redbird IMI, was blocked by the government this year.
It struck a deal with the Barclay family last year to take control of the group by paying off debts to their lender Lloyds.
The publisher of the Daily Mail has withdrawn its interest while there are also doubts whether GB News investor Paul Marshall will make a bid.
A sale to CVC would mark the first time a British paper fell into private equity hands.
Tapi’s set for pick of rival
TAPI CARPETS is understood to be the front-runner to rescue parts of Carpetright.
The retailer is on the brink after filing notice to appoint administrators last week.
It is understood that accountant PWC has been running an accelerated process to find a rescue before the business runs out of cash. A deadline for early interest passed yesterday.
Carpetright’s ultimate owner, British hedge fund Meditor, has ruled out trying to buy back the business or putting any more money in. Meditor owns Nestware Holdings, which also owns The Floor Room.
Tapi Carpets, which was started by Martin Harris, son of Carpetright founder Lord Harris of Peckham, is understood to have the best chance of clinching a deal.
However, sources stressed Tapi would not be interested in acquiring all 275 stores.
HSBC has promoted finance boss Georges Elhedery to chief executive.
In September, he will takeover from Noel Quinn, who is retiring. London-listed HSBC is the biggest UK bank but does the majority of its business in Asia.