Top Bordeaux negociant bought by French agribusiness firm
Date£º
2015-06-08 17:19 Source£º
decanter Author:
Jane Anson in Bordeaux Translator:
Cordier Mestrezat, one of the top three Bordeaux negociants in terms of turnover, has been sold to a large French agricultural cooperative group, In Vivo.
In Vivo has a revenue of 5.7bn euros across 28 countries, and to date has specialised in the fields of agriculture, animal nutrition and agri-food distribution. This is its first entrance into wine, although it has already some experience of managing vineyards.
Cordier Mestrezat is one of the oldest n¨¦gociants in Bordeaux, with Cordier dating back to 1886 and Mestrezat to 1815 ¨C the two merged in 2000. In 2010 it had a turnover of €50m, with 70% of that to export. Its turnover is 50% grand crus, 25% petit chateaux and 25% Cordier branded wines, although it is expected that the new owners will concentrate on developing the own-label side of the business.
¡®As far as I know it is the first time a cooperative outside of wine has bought a Bordeaux n¨¦gociant,¡¯ Allan Sichel, president of the Federation of Negociants in Bordeaux, told Decanter.com. ¡®In Vivo says its aim is to develop the Cordier brand into a major player. This requires a lot of cash and marketing power; they presumably have both¡¯.
According to Le Figaro newspaper, In Vivo has taken 78% of the capital of the company with an investment of €40 million. The remaining 22% has been taken by Val d¡¯Orbieu, a major wine owner in the Languedoc. The goal, according to In Vivo managing director Thierry Blandini¨¨res, is to grow the turnover of the new winemaking venture to €500m by expanding the Cordier name out of Bordeaux, and taking on key French winemaking groups Castel and Grands Chais de France.
¡®It is always good when Bordeaux attracts investors,¡¯ Sichel said. ¡®It gives confidence, showing that in spite of everything the sector is attractive and some are prepared to invest large amounts of money to have a share of it.'