Accolade Wines gets $300m finance deal

Accolade Wines has secured a US$300M cross-border financing package from global finance provider GE Capital International, building on its previous $220m package in 2011.

Accolade Wines, the largest wine company by volume of wine sold in Australia and the UK, is currently recapitalizing its balance sheet to fund the continued growth of its business.

John Ratcliffe, CEO, 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.”

Accolade Wines includes brands such as Hardys, Banrock Station, Kumala, Echo Falls and Geyser Peak which are distributed in more than 80 countries including Australia, the UK, Mainland Europe, the U.S., Canada, Japan and China.

Richard Laxer, president and CEO 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.”

GE Capital International is a leading, global provider of specialist finance to the mid-market, with headquarters in London and serving customers from 30 markets across EMEA and Asia Pacific.