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Azur.I: Azur Intelligence

 

At Azur Associates, one of our key goals is to provide our clients with the up-to-date, insightful information and analyses they need to make the best decisions for their business.  We have two seasoned team members dedicated solely to this task.  While, of course, we can’t release full studies that are confidential to our clients, we enjoy sharing some highlights as well as perspectives on more public situations in the industry.  This is Azur.I: Azur Intelligence.

 
 
 
 

Significant Transactions in Wine & Spirits M&A

Significant transactions in July have kicked off the 2nd half of 2021 which will be historic in terms of transformative deals in the Wine & Spirits M&A space. A few select recent deals each have significant implications for where things are headed:

1. Premiumization & Scale: Delicato Family Wines acquisition of Francis Ford Coppola Winery.

2. More Private Equity Investment: Sycamore Partners acquisition of St. Michelle Wine Estates.

3. Vineyards & Climate Change: Far Niente (also Private Equity owned) acquires 133 acres of vineyard in Carneros from Clos du Val.

4. Accelerating direct to consumer route to market trends and eCommerce: LVMH and Campari's new eCommerce joint venture.

M&A activity in the 3rd quarter continued to highlight larger transactions in wine (e.g. Ste Michelle Wine Estates and WX Brands) as well as continued activity across the eCommerce space. Private Equity, Family Offices and larger Strategics drove the majority of the deals.

Select M&A activity year to date highlighted in our summary attached here.

Patrick DeLong