Auction house snaps up online wine specialist

Online auction firm Bid for Wine has been sold to The Fine Art Auction Group in what its founders called “an exciting opportunity for customers”.

The deal forms the culmination of a two-year joint venture between Bid for Wine and Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions, a subsidiary of The Fine Art Auction Group, which saw the combined businesses generate £2.5 million in sales during the last financial year.

This latest move will give Dreweatts access to the Singaporean market, an increasingly important focus for the fine wine trade in recent years, where Bid for Wine already has a presence.

Following the acquisition, which was effective from 31 March 2015, Bid for Wine’s former consignment director Chris Hambledon has become head of the group’s wine department. He now shares responsibility for the day to day running of the company with Desmond Foo in Singapore.

The team has also been joined by Jack Chapman, formerly of Majestic Wine, while Bid for Wine’s co-founder Lionel Nierop has stepped back to focus on securing consignments for the business.

Founded in 2008, Bid for Wine was the first dedicated online auction marketplace for wine. Since then it has added a Singaporean arm, launched live auctions, extended its focus to spirits and now attracts customers from 30 markets around the world.

Dreweatts’ CEO Stephan Ludwig and Nierop outlined the company’s model, explaining: “A monthly calendar of timed auctions sits alongside a self-listing marketplace providing a lower cost model for buyers and sellers of wines.”

In addition to the 320 lots currently being offered on the website’s monthly timed auction, they highlighted details of the company’s next live sale, which takes place in London on 10 July and features 330 lots, including a bottle of Henri Jayer’s Vosne Romanee Cros-Parantoux 1996 and a range of large format red and white Burgundy.