Morgan Stanley tapped for Accolade Wines float

Morgan Stanley is understood to be one of the banks that will secure a joint lead manager role to float Accolade Wines, according to sources.

It comes as Accolade’s owner, CHAMP Private Equity, and adviser Reunion Capital, are said to be about to appoint two to three joint lead managers for a float of the company.

The company is currently subject to a dual track process and the pricing expectations are said to be about $1 billion.

CHAMP managing director John Haddock has been in Asia sounding out potential buyer interest in Accolade after it previously attracted some interest from Chinese buyers specifically interested in the Australian operations.

Accolade has brands including Banrock Station, Hardys, Leasingham, Bay of Fires, Stanley Wines and Nobilo.

Born out of the grape growers’ co-operative Consolidated Co-operative Wineries, Accolade was previously BRL Hardy, run by Stephen Millar, before it was sold to Constellation Wines for about $1.9 billion.

CHAMP bought the company in 2010 for a price that valued the business at $290m.

Accolade buys grapes from farmers to produce wine in Australia and Britain, with roughly equal revenue from both operations.

CCW remains the major supplier of grapes to Accolade Wines, the majority being processed at the Berri Estate winery, the largest in Australia, handling at least 200,000 tonnes of grapes a year.

Bankers have been eager to float Accolade in the hope that the business soars on the market following rival Treasury’s recent strong market performance.

As DataRoom revealed earlier this week, Britain’s Permira has circled Accolade Wines for a potential acquisition.