Member Article

North West off-licence chain snaps up Wine Rack in £1.65m deal

North West franchised off-licence chain Conviviality Retail has agreed to buy the retailer Wine Rack for £1.65m.

The deal will see Conviviality take over all 22 of Wine Rack’s stores, which are predominantly in greater London.

The current Wine Rack business was acquired by its management in November 2009 who have grown the existing stores, expanding the business from 13 outlets to its current portfolio of 22 stores and developed an e-commerce platform.

In its audited accounts for the year ended 31 March 2013, Wine Rack generated revenues of £11.28 million, EBITDA of £0.395 million and a profit before tax of £0.18 million.

Diana Hunter, CEO of Conviviality Retail Plc, commented: “Wine Rack fits perfectly with our stated strategy, outlined when we floated on AIM.

“This acquisition accelerates our expansion into the wine market, provides the Company with additional expertise that will benefit our Franchisees and increases our footprint in the South of England, including adding scale in the important London market.

“We are looking forward to welcoming the current store teams and Ron Booker to Conviviality and we look forward to taking the Wine Rack brand from strength to strength with their involvement.

“The combination of greater buying power for Wine Rack and increased wine market expertise for Conviviality make this acquisition a positive move for all concerned.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .