Accolade Wines going ahead with Grant Burge purchase

By Gemma McKenna

Published: 01 December, 2014

Accolade Wines and Barossa's Grant Burge wines have reached agreement on the acquisition of the Grant Burge brand and business, along with its Krondorf winery.

The agreement, details of which are undisclosed, is subject to third party conditions, which if met would see completion of the acquisition in January 2015.

Accolade Wines says it is "excited by the opportunity to build on the domestic strength of the brands and grow Grant Burge Wines internationally" through its distribution network in 112 countries.

Grant and Helen Burge, who founded their winery in 1988, said they were looking forward to working closely with Accolade and seeing their portfolio becoming more widely known and appreciated outside of Australia.

Accolade Wines, which includes Australian brands Hardys and Banrock Station in its portfolio, has been owned by private equity firm Champ since the beginning of 2011.

In March this year Accolade recapitalised with a US$300 million cross-border finance facility through GE Capital in order to fund "continued global growth". In November 2013 it 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.

Last month another major acquisition took place in the Australian wine market with Casella Family Brands, owner of Yellow Tail, offering to buy Peter Lehmann Wines in a deal said to be worth around AU$57 million.

Accolade Wines operates in over 80 countries and is headquartered at Reynella in South Australia. It employs 1,500 people across Australia, the UK, Europe, North America, Asia and South Africa.

Grant Burge Wines is currently led by the family's fifth generation winemaker of the same name, Grant Burge.

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