Accolade Wines recapitalises with US $300m finance facility

By Gemma McKenna

Published: 26 March, 2014

Global alternative finance provider GE Capital has provided Accolade Wines with a US $300 million cross-border finance facility.

Accolade Wines is currently recapitalizing its balance sheet in order to fund continued global growth.

It initially secured a US$220 million financing facility from GE Capital back in 2011.

Back in November, the firm acquired a range of brands from New Zealand's Mud House group, in order to boost its portfolio and grow in Europe, North America and Asian markets.

Richard Laxer, president and chief executive of GE Capital International, said: "Many of our customers' businesses cover multiple geographies. Our global footprint and experience in cross-border transactions position us to provide global financing solutions that fit our customer needs. We were able to support Accolade Wines and CHAMP Private Equity, Accolade's majority owner, with a financing facility to help them fund the continued global growth of their business."

John Ratcliffe, chief executive of Accolade Wines, said:"We have been partnering with GE for some time. GE's global platform is important to the implementation of our strategy of being a full-service New World wine proposition globally across the three core price segments of value, mid-market and premium. We operate globally and working with GE allows us to do this seamlessly across multiple geographies."

GE Capital International is a global provider of specialist finance to the mid-market, with headquarters in London and serving customers from 30 markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific. With around 25,000 employees and revenues of more than $11 billion, GE Capital International focuses on its core commercial leasing and lending products.

Accolade Wines includes the Hardys, Banrock Station, Kumala and Echo Falls brands. It operates in over 80 countries and is headquartered at Reynella in South Australia. It employs 1,400 people across Australia, the UK, Europe, North America, Asia and South Africa.

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