Vinum Capital Management has announced the launch of a $250 million fund targeting the California and west coast wine industry, Vinum Capital Partners I, LP. The fund will focus on mid-size premium and super-premium wine properties that produce 20,000 to 150,000 cases per year. The California-based company plans to acquire wine companies, grow and expand them, and ultimately sell the assets in this industry that receives relatively little attention from equity investors. Vinum put together a solid team with significant experience in the wine industry, totaling $1 billion in winery-related transactions.
I"ll say one thing after reading this new -- every worker in private equity probably wants to get hired by this fund.
Investment partners for the fund include Justin Faggioli, former COO of Ravenswood, Scott Setrakian, former Director of Golden State Vineyards and an M&A and financing expert, G. Craig Vachon.
The portfolio management team for the fund lists Bill Foster from Beringer, Jonathan Pey from Robert Mondavi and Fosters Wine Estates, Doug Rogers from Gallo, Southcorp, and Brown-Forman Wines, and Bob Steinhauer from Beringer.
If you have kept up with the wine, beer, and spirits industry, you'll get the significance of this as both Beringer and Mondavi are formerly public companies. Fosters acquired Beringer earlier this decade. Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) also acquired Robert Mondavi.
Jon Ogg produces and edits the Special Situation Investing Newsletter for 247WallSt.com.
