Challenge
KPMG (Administrators of The McWilliam’s Wines Group) appointed the Colliers Agribusiness specialist wine industry transaction team to assist with the sale or recapitalisation of the McWilliam’s Wines Group.
The high profile project was particularly complicated due to the distressed situation of the business, as well as the specialised assets included in the portfolio. Our vast experience in handling a highly probative sale process of some of the most important wine industry assets in Australia was imperative and our ability to collaborate with the vendor through a difficult market (COVID-19 pandemic & China wine tariffs) ensured we achieved a successful result.
Strategy
The difficulty was to generate full value for all assets; the land & buildings; the business assets including intellectual property (brands and trademarks) and the significant wine inventory.
Together with KPMG (Administrators), the Colliers Agribusiness team initiated a public International Expression of Interest campaign with a focus on selling the business/assets as a going concern and retaining employees. Strong collaborative approach was taken with KPMG with full disclosure to creditors and shareholders.
Result
The high profile campaign generated exceptional enquiry from 138 parties originating from both domestic and international prospects.
We received a generous amount of Expressions of Interest to purchase all or parts of the assets. The successful transaction resulted in the separation of the main Hanwood winery/business from the Mount Pleasant winery/business.
Testimonial
"The successful sale of McWilliam’s Wines relied on Tim Altschwager and Nick Dean’s deep industry contacts and knowledge of the market for wine assets, but uniquely working collaboratively with us at KPMG to maximise value for the business and to capitalise on our contacts within private equity and debt funds who have undeployed capital at an all-time high. A great partnership to achieve a great result!"
Tim Mableson
Partner | Restructuring Services
KPMG Australia
