Treasury Wine Estates has licensed The Wine Group to source and sell the Beringer Main & Vine, Beringer Founders’ Estate, Coastal Estates and Meridian brands in the Americas as it focuses on its premium wine business in the US.
The Wine Group will acquire existing inventories associated with these brands on a progressive drawdown basis and will assume responsibility for related future bulk wine supply contracts.
It will generate cash proceeds of approximately $100 million, TWE said.
In 1H FY21, the brands contributed 2.3 million cases of volume, $92 million of net sales revenue and $13.5 million of gross profit.
TWE CEO Tim Ford said the agreement was a “significant milestone” for the company. “We can now focus solely on continuing the growth of our premium brand portfolio to drive future performance in the Americas,” Ford said.
In TWE’s 1H FY21 results, Ford said the focus in the Americas was the halve its volume, maintain similar earnings over time and move towards the target of 25 per cent regional EBITS margin.
The Wine Group CEO Cate Hardy said the brands complemented its position in the value segment, alongside its growing premium wine portfolio.