United steps out of Spain with La-Vis deal

United Wineries has joined forces with La-Vis of Italy in a deal which sees United break from its Spanish wines-only ethos.

The deal sees United take over distribution of the La-Vis range of wines in the UK with immediate effect.

Victor Redondo, president and CEO of United Wineries, said: “La-Vis is a wine company we have admired and respected for a long time and this will be the only deal we do with an Italian company, so we can really focus on its brands.

“The complementary portfolio with valuable synergies and no conflicts to our own fits strategically with our vision of global brands and global distribution.

“This accord is different in its approach,” he continued. “La-Vis has effectively become our shareholder partner by taking a stake in United Wineries, which in turn implies long-term common goals and aligned interests.”

La-Vis brands include Canaletto, Villa Cafaggio and Cesarini Sforza, with UK sales of over seven million bottles last year.

Marco Raengo, secretary general of La-Vis, said: “United Wineries has a similar culture to La-Vis and shows dynamism and flair in the UK market.

“It has an excellent commercial platform, great distribution and a proven history of building brands. We are very excited about this new chapter of La-Vis wines in the UK and look forward to a fruitful and mutually beneficial partnership with United Wineries.”

Redondo added: “Now is the perfect time to invest in Italian wines. The country is growing more than twice as fast as the UK category, showing 14.8% year on year value growth and 6.7% volume growth.

“Our ambition is to be instrumental in driving those figures higher.”

Alan Lodge, 16.09.2009