Casella confirms ‘number of approaches’ for wine brands

By Lisa Riley

Published: 21 June, 2019

Casella Family Brands, owner of Yellow Tail and Peter Lehman, has confirmed it has received “a number of approaches” in relation to its wine brands, but has refuted rumours that it has commenced a sale process.

“Casella Family Brands has not commenced a sale process for the business,” communications manager Frankie Harding said in a statement following reports in the Australian press.

“There has been strong interest in the sector, driven by the recent sale of Accolade Wines and the rumoured sale of the Pernod Ricard Wine assets, and Casella Family Brands has received a number of approaches over an extended period of time from a range of investors in relation to the Casella Family Brands business.

“The company will continue to invest in the growth of its portfolio of brands including [yellow tail], Peter Lehmann Wines, Brand’s Laira, Morris Wines of Rutherglen and Baileys of Glenrowan.”

The statement follows an article in The Australian Financial Review which said it believed Casella had hired investment bank UBS “to test the appetite of potential buyers”.

In terms of companies that could make such a purchase, The Carlyle Group, which now owns Accolade Wines is seen as a likely bidder, as well as TPG Capital and PAI Partners, who were outbid by Carlyle for Accolade.

Casella has built a hugely successful business driven largely by its exports of Yellow Tail, which now stand at around 12.5m cases a year.

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