WINE INDUSTRY – AUSTRALIA

Accolade’s Burge buy comes with $10m loss

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 29-Jun-15

Grant Burge Wines sells around 450,000 cases of wine in Australia each year, and ranks among the nation’s 10 biggest-selling wine brands. Accolade Wines acquired the business in early 2015 and has appointed Jeff Bond as general manager. His task will be to turn around Grant Burge’s fortunes, after it posted a loss of $A9.4m in 2013-14. This followed a modest profit of $A264,247 in the previous fiscal year. Revenue was $A40.4m in 2013-14, compared with $A43.2m previously.

CORPORATES
ACCOLADE WINES LIMITED, GRANT BURGE WINES PTY LTD, CHAMP PRIVATE EQUITY PTY LTD, PETER LEHMANN WINES LIMITED, CASELLA WINES PTY LTD, HARDY WINE COMPANY LIMITED, LEASINGHAM WINES, NOTTAGE HILL WINES, BANROCK STATION WINES, MUD HOUSE WINES LIMITED, CONSTELLATION BRANDS INCORPORATED, TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, PENFOLDS WINES PTY LTD

Treasury forecasts ‘big’ growth in wine sales to China

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Original article by Angus Grigg
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 23-Jun-15

Treasury Wine Estates is upbeat about its prospects in the Chinese market. Robert Foye, the group’s MD for Asia, expects China to be Treasury’s third-biggest source of profits and revenue within five years. He believes that Treasury’s annual sales in Asia could potentially grow by 15-20 per cent over this period. Treasury is also likely to benefit from the Australia-China free trade agreement.

CORPORATES
TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, WOLF BLASS WINES PTY LTD, PENFOLDS WINES PTY LTD

Tax plonk more, says Grange man

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 5-Jun-15

Treasury Wine Estates and Pernod Ricard are lobbying for reforms to Australia’s wine equalisation tax system. They favour a standardised tax rate for all wines, irrespective of the price or quality. Penfolds Grange winemaker Peter Gago is also in favour of reform, arguing that the nation’s wine industry needs to focus more on the premium end of the wine market and encourage local consumers to drink wines that are of a higher quality.

CORPORATES
TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, PERNOD RICARD SA, PENFOLDS WINES PTY LTD, JACOB’S CREEK PTY LTD, ABSOLUT VODKA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, MAGILL ESTATE

Treasury’s premium clear out of Penfolds Grange

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Original article by Julie-Anne Sprague
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 & 28 : 30-Oct-14

Treasury Wine Estates MD Mike Clarke refutes claims that the company is providing retailers with discounts on its flagship Penfolds Grange. Some liquor store operators say they have been offered a rebate on the 2009 vintage of up to 30 per cent. Clarke says Treasury has increased its marketing support for retailers after the group opted to release the 2009 and 2010 vintages in the same calendar year

CORPORATES
TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, PENFOLDS WINES PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, DAN MURPHY’S

Vintners toast Aussie’s falling value

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Original article by Tim Binsted
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 16-Oct-14

Wirra Wirra Vineyards plans to capitalise on the recent fall in the value of the Australian dollar by increasing its export volumes to around 20 per cent in the next several years. Exports currently account for 10-15 of the South Australian wine producer’s output. Winemakers’ Federation of Australia CEO Paul Evans notes that the best outcome for the industry would be for the currency to fall to around $US0.80

CORPORATES
WIRRA WIRRA VINEYARDS, WINEMAKERS’ FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, RABOBANK AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Casella senses richer picking in premium

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Original article by Julie-Anne Sprague
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 30-Sep-14

Australian export success story Casella Family Brands plans to target US consumers with premium wines using the Casella label. The move is aimed at capitalising on growing US interest in more upmarket wines than the company’s highly popular but low-priced Yellow Tail label. John Casella says Australian wine producers need to more actively target on-premise trade in the US, which has tended to be neglected due to a focus on wine retailers

CORPORATES
CASELLA FAMILY BRANDS, CASELLA WINES PTY LTD, YELLOW TAIL WINES

KKR tipped to win Treasury Wine

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Original article by Simon Evans, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 11 : 29-Sep-14

Competing, revised takeover offers were lodged on 26 September 2014 for Australian-listed Treasury Wine Estates (TWE). It is believed that the directors will now recommend acceptance of the offer received from the consortium of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Rhone Capital, rather than that of rival US-based private equity firm TPG Capital. The KKR bid is worth around $A5.20 a share. TWE’s earnings are being boosted by the recent decline in the Australian dollar

CORPORATES
TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, KKR AND COMPANY LP, KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS AND COMPANY, RHONE CAPITAL LLC, TPG CAPITAL LP, PENFOLDS WINES PTY LTD, WOLF BLASS WINES PTY LTD, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Treasury in hunt for US assets

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 25-Aug-14

Treasury Wine Estates has reduced costs by $A35m since Michael Clarke became CEO earlier in 2014. Clarke says the group’s major shareholders are very supportive of plans to pursue growth via "bolt-on" acquisitions in the US. He adds that both of Treasury’s private equity suitors have also supported his growth strategy. Treasury’s 2013-14 net loss of $A100.9m was primarily due to some $A281m worth of write-downs

CORPORATES
TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, KKR AND COMPANY LP, KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS AND COMPANY, TPG CAPITAL LP, FOSTER’S GROUP LIMITED, BERINGER WINE ESTATES HOLDINGS INCORPORATED, LUCOZADE

Treasury thirsty for acquisitions

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 19 : 22-Aug-14

Treasury Wine Estates has posted a 2013-14 full-year net loss of $A100.9m. EBITS of $A193m was not enough to offset provisioning worth $A280.6m for impaired assets. EBITS in the Australasian operations fell 31.5% to $A75.1m, and that for the US division was down 7% at $A80m once foreign exchange rate fluctuations were taken into account. On 21 August 2014 the stock closed $A0.13 lower at $A5.20, also the offer price in rival takeover bids by private equity firms TPG Capital and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts with Rhone Capital. CEO Mike Clarke said the company wants to expand in the US premium wines segment

CORPORATES
TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS AND COMPANY, KKR AND COMPANY LP, RHONE CAPITAL LLC, TPG CAPITAL LP, PENFOLDS WINES PTY LTD, ROSEMOUNT ESTATES PTY LTD, LINDEMANS WINES PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Aussie wine is a hard sell in China

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Original article by Andrew Burrell
The Australian – Page: 19 : 12-Aug-14

Resources entrepreneur Andrew Forrest has launched a new push to boost agricultural exports by Australian producers to China. However Rathbone Wine Group MD Darren Rathbone warns that in his experience there is a significant and lengthy effort needed to gain entry into the Chinese market, and the strategy may not save the struggling wine industry in Australia from further business collapses. Rathbone has established his own distribution network for the Yering Station, Mount Langi Ghiran and Xanadu brands, but says Chinese wine consumers still prefer French labels due to the perceived prestige

CORPORATES
RATHBONE WINE GROUP PTY LTD, YERING ESTATE PTY LTD, MOUNT LANGI GHIRAN ESTATE, XANADU WINES PTY LTD, NUFARM LIMITED – ASX NUF, LVMH MOET HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON SA, GUCCI GROUP NV