Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) continues its streamlining course in the US market. As various US media sources report, the company has sold the licences of its brands "Beringer Main & Vine," "Beringer Founders' Estate," "Coastal Estates," and "Meridian" to the US-based The Wine Group. The deal is valued at about $77 million USD.
The agreement allows The Wine Group to acquire all existing stocks of the licensed brands and also to take full responsibility for all future bulk supply contracts. The high-quality ranges of the Beringer brand, however, will remain in the possession of TWE. The Wine Group owns and produces over 100 brands in the US and Australia, including Franzia, Cupcake and Foxhorn.
The move is part of a "premium-isation plan" that TWE is implementing in the US. In February, it was announced that the company would gradually divest itself of various lower and mid-priced brands to focus more on premium brands in the US.
"This transaction is a significant milestone in our plans to take the US premium wine business into the future," Treasury CEO Tom Ford is quoted as saying. The Wine Group wants to expand the "value segment" with the brands and also to introduce consumers to higher qualities via this mid-price range, a spokeswoman for the company explained.
Meanwhile, there is speculation that French drinks multinational Pernod Ricard has made a takeover offer to TWE. "Rumours and speculation" would not be commented on, TWE said. It was reported several years ago that Pernod was showing considerable interest in TWE. TWE's annual turnover is around 1.69 billion euros. aw
