(September 03, 1999) more exclusive brands – increase in sales and earnings from 1999
Hamburg, 3 September 1999.
Wine merchandising group Hawesko Holding AG (HAWG.F, 604270) announced that it is taking over the 90% majority in German wholesaler Wein Wolf Group retroactively to 1 April 1999. The Wein Wolf Group is Germany’s largest wholesaler of premium wines with total sales of DM 83.3 million in its latest fiscal year to 31 March 1999. Wein Wolf is the market leader in wine and champagne sales to fine restaurants and catering businesses, and has exclusive distribution rights for top-label brands in Germany as well as its own private labels.
Total group sales for Hawesko are now expected to reach over DM 400 million for 1999. The Wine Wolf acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive in its stub year 1999. The book value of total assets being acquired is approximately DM 65 million. The majority stake in the Wein Wolf Group is being acquired from the heirs of the Willi Leibbrand estate.
As a result of the acquisition, Hawesko’s wholesale distribution channel will increase its sales of
DM 15 million in 1998 to over DM 90 million in 1999, making it the number one wholesaler of premium wine in Germany, a position already achieved in the mail-order and wine-store (Jacques´ Wein-Depot) business lines. Hawesko’s existing wholesale subsidiary, CWD, will continue to operate as a separate entity and concentrate on its form of drop-delivery wholesale. The entire Hawesko Group will benefit from product sourcing of even more premium-quality wines and greater exposure in top-level restaurants, thereby leveraging on the Group’s existing strength at the high end of the wine market.
The Wein Wolf Group was started in 1981 and consists not only of its German wholesale activities to fine restaurants, but also includes Wein Wolf Vertrieb (importer of top-label wines), Ariane Abayan (leading importer of premium Italian wines), Gebr. Ziegler (producer of exclusive eau de vie), Baron von Essen Weinhandel (marketer of designer-gift wine products), as well as Wein Wolf Oesterreich (Austrian wholesaler) which will provide a springboard for Hawesko into Austria. The Wine Wolf Group has a total of 62 employees. In the past three years, its sales have increased an average of 18 % per year.
Management Board Chairman Alexander Margaritoff: "With the acquisition of the Wein Wolf Group we are leveraging on our strong position at the high end of the market in Germany with even more of the best name-brands in the wine business like Taittinger, Louis Latour and Torres. We expect the stronger position in wholesale also to benefit Hawesko’s other distribution channels, and to make Hawesko an even more attractive partner for high-quality producers."
Hawesko Holding AG is Germany’s leading seller of premium wines and champagne. With three distribution channels – mail-order (Hawesko), wine stores (Jacques‘ Wein-Depot) and wholesale (CWD) – the Group achieved net profit of DM 20.3 million on sales of DM 303.0 million in 1998 with 353 employees.