A “tie-up” between Accolade Wines and either Australian Vintage or Pernod Ricard (ANZ) is “looking likely”, according to a report in The Australian.

The publication reports that it’s now understood that “the whole investment case for Accolade Wines’ new owner, AWL – a consortium led by Bain Capital – was based on being able to merge with either of the two candidates”.

The report stated that if Accolade doesn’t buy the Australian and New Zealand assets that Pernod Ricard has on the market then a deal with Australian Vintage “looks a strong possibility”.

“Apparently talks have been held with both parties, wrote The Australian’s dataroom editor, Bridget Carter.

“Australian Vintage said in its half-year result last week that as part of its strategic review, transformational opportunities, including mergers, were still in their early stages.”

It was reported earlier this year that “a Bain Capital-led consortium has finalised its recapitalisation of Accolade Wines, which was struggling with too much debt. The Carlyle Group, which bought the business in 2018 for about $1bn, is now out of its investment and Australian Wine Holdco Limited (AWL) is the new owner”.

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