The acquisition includes a portfolio of American wine brands including Fetzer, Bonterra, Five Rivers, Jekel, Sanctuary and Little Black Dress. These brands reportedly represented volumes of 3.1 million cases and net sales of US$156 million last calendar year. It also acquires assets including 429 hAs of vineyards in Mendocino County, California; cellars with capacities of 36 million liters and 6 million liters in California and a bottling facility.
"The Fetzer acquisition is the largest transaction of this type in the company's history," Eduardo Guilisasti, CEO of Concha y Toro announced in a statement. "We believe that this transaction opens additional growth opportunities globally, as well as in the American market, with its main brands Fetzer and Bonterra," he added.
Santiago-based Concha y Toro also operates in Argentina and is Latin America's leading wine producer. Besides Frontera, the company sells Casillero del Diablo and Don Melchor in India besides the Argentine label, Trivento. Fetzer has been selling for over 7 years too by the company with its own office in India.
The sale by Brown Forman was expected and had been announced by the company in the media; it was reported earlier in delWine. Paul Varga, CEO says, “Fetzer and Bonterra have been wonderful brands for Brown-Forman over the years, but as our company has grown globally and our portfolio strategy has evolved, we believe refocusing our resources on what we deem to be our best opportunities for strong growth will provide superior shareholder returns over the long term.”
The transaction has been submitted to the regulatory authorities and is expected to close in April 2011. |