US wine group The Duckhorn Portfolio has agreed a full sale to Los Angeles-based private equity group Butterfly Equity.
The transaction, which values the 11-wineries business at US$1.95bn, has been approved unanimously by its board. The transition to private ownership for the listed company is expected to complete “this winter”, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.
Duckhorn, which had annual sales of $107.4m (+7.3%) in the 12 months to the end of July, hit the headlines late last year when it acquired Brown-Forman’s Sonoma-Cutrer Californian wine unit in return for $50m and a 21.5% ownership stake. At the time, the two companies valued the sale at around $400m, with Brown-Forman expected to net in the region of $419m from Butterfly’s acquisition.
“Butterfly believes strongly in The Duckhorn Portfolio and is fully invested in helping us achieve our next phase of growth,” said Duckhorn CEO Deirdre Mahlan. “Just as important, Butterfly brings a proven track record of strengthening its portfolio companies while helping them advance their long-term strategic objectives.
“Through our partnership with Butterfly, we expect The Duckhorn Portfolio will have enhanced resources to build on our strong foundation and to further scale our operations.”
The development comes eight months after Accolade Wines moved from one private equity owner to another, with The Carlyle Group selling the Australia-focused company to a five-strong investment consortium. Since then, Accolade has bought virtually all of Pernod Ricard’s wine assets, including the Campo Viejo and Jacob’s Creek brands, in a deal values at hundreds of millions of dollars.
