Representatives from the KWV board and dissident shareholders, dubbed the "Group of Five", who each made proposals to shareholders about the future of the company/co-operative, have beaten out a compromise during 12 hours of intensive negotiations.

The parties met on Friday and again on Monday to find common ground about the future of KWV's commercial interests, through the KWV Group, and that of the co-operative through a new entity called Wijngaard, which will serve the interests of the producer.

This compromise follows a battle, which had been building up over the past three months, spilling over into the media, including full-page advertisements in the local press.

The two groups have agreed in principle about the division of KWV and are now jointly planning the finer details to present to their respective principals for final acceptance.

Once it has been cleared, it will be put before the KWV Co-operative AGM on 30 October, then the KWV Group AGM, which has been postponed from 24 October to 27 November 2002.

Both parties agreed not to say anything about the negotiations until they had received approval from their respective principles.