Accolade Wines tipped to join Australian Vintage or Pernod Ricard

If Accolade Wines does not buy the Australian and New Zealand assets that Pernod Ricard has on the market, a deal with Australian Vintage looks a strong possibility. Picture: iStock

A tie-up between Accolade Wines and either Australian Vintage or Pernod Ricard ANZ is looking likely.

It’s now understood the whole investment case for Accolade Wines’ new owner, AWL, – a consortium led by Bain Capital – was based on being able to merge with either of the two candidates.

If Accolade Wines does not buy the Australian and New Zealand assets that Pernod Ricard has on the market, a deal with Australian Vintage looks a strong possibility. Apparently talks have been held with both parties.

Australian Vintage said in its half-year result last week that as part of its strategic review, transformational opportunities, including mergers, were still in their early stages.

As reported by this column earlier in the year, a Bain Capital-led consortium has finalised its recapitalisation of Accolade Wines, which was struggling with too much debt. The Carlyle Group, which bought the business in 2018 for about $1bn, is now out of its investment and Australian Wine Holdco Limited (AWL) is the new owner.

AWL comprises Bain, Intermediate Capital Group, Capital Four, Sona Asset Management and Terry Asset Management.

One option with Australian Vintage is a backdoor listing, similar to the Chemist Warehouse listing for Sigma Pharmaceuticals.

Pernod Ricard has been working on a sale of its ANZ brands with assistance from investment bank Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan.

Accolade is one of the largest wine companies in the world, producing brands such as Hardys, St Hallett and Grant Burge.

E&P Corporate Advisory is working for Australian Vintage, which has a market value of about $90m and has brands including Tempus Two and McGuigan.

Net debt for the six months to December was $68m. It reported a $2.8m interim net profit, down 78 per cent.

Grape prices have hurt the industry. They are now at $357 a tonne, according to Wine Australia, down 11.5 per cent on the previous corresponding year.

Many pin their hopes on the reopening of China exports.