Vintage Wine Estates Brands Go On the Auction Block

Bill Foley knows a good deal when he sees it. A few months after the California-based Vintage Wine Estates (VWE) declared bankruptcy, more than 20 wineries and brands from the firm are set to come under new ownership, after an auction in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. While final approval for the bids is still needed, Foley Family Wines & Spirits is set to acquire Swanson Vineyards, Sonoma Coast Vineyards and Cosentino, as well as the Cherry Pie and Bar Dog brands, for $15 million. As reported by Shanken News Daily, Foley had filed a stalking horse bid that was not exceeded by other bidders.

Jayson Adair of Adair Wines aimed for more premium brands, with his company paying $85 million for Clos Pegase, Girard, B.R. Cohn, Kunde and Viansa. Other brands like Laetitia Vineyard & Winery and Owen Roe were sold to investor Ejnar Knudsen, while Vino.com picked up Layer Cake.

A Rapid Rise and Fall

VWE filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July and voluntarily delisted from the Nasdaq, after the company was unable to engineer a turnaround after months of turmoil. Co-founder and longtime CEO Pat Roney built VWE with a series of acquisitions over the years. He started it in 2009, when he combined Girard Winery, a Napa Valley winery he bought in 2000, with Windsor Vineyards, a Sonoma County producer of private wine labels he and Leslie Rudd, the late founder of Rudd Estate, purchased in 2007.

The VWE brand portfolio grew to include more than 60 labels, with most of its wines priced in the $10 to $20 per bottle range. The Sonoma-headquartered company went public with a $600 million IPO in 2021. Its share price reached a high of $12.63 shortly after the IPO, but fell from there and was sitting at $0.11 when it filed for bankruptcy. Too many of the brands needed to be turned around at a time when the economy was uncertain and credit was tight. In February, 2023, 18 months after the IPO, the company was in financial trouble, and Roney stepped aside as CEO.

VWE owns and leases about 1,850 acres of vineyards and operates 11 wineries and nine tasting rooms, according to court documents. It employs 377 employees. It remains to be seen what the new owners’ plans are.

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