Vintage Wine Estates is on the hunt for a new CEO as the incumbent – and group co-founder – Pat Roney heads to the chairman post.
The embattled US company, which has been the target of several law firms in recent months, has appointed former Constellation Brands executive Jon Moramarco as its interim CEO. Current chairman Paul Walsh, who was CEO of Diageo from 2000 to 2013, will stay on in a lead independent director capacity.
Moramarco spent almost ten years with Constellation, the last two of which were as CEO of the international business to June 2009. Prior to that, he spent just over 17 years with Allied Domecq and has been a board director at VWE since 2021.
The move coincides with a restatement of the company’s fiscal-first-quarter results, on the basis of “the misclassification and accounting for certain assets and also the timing of recording certain costs”. September’s announcement of the fiscal-2022 numbers, to the end of June, prompted several legal firms to launch “investigations” into the company and to invite shareholders to contact them.
VWE is delaying its Q2 results reporting to mid-March to allow for “additional analysis”.
What to watch for in wine and spirits in 2023 – Market Intel
