International wine group AdVini has agreed a deal to buy a clutch of assets from Cordier by Invivo.
In a joint statement yesterday (12 March), the companies, who announced in December there were in talks to to merge “certain” activities, said they had struck a “binding” agreement.
Through the transaction, AdVini will receive "a portion" of Cordier by Invivo's "wine-growing assets" that representing export sales of around €50m ($57.30).
Just Drinks has asked for further details on those assets.
The deal will also see AdVini take on the Café de Paris sparkling wine brand and its production site, as well as the Cordier brand.
Advini, founded in 1872, owns estates in most of France’s major wine regions, including Burgundy’s Domaine Laroche, Vignobles Jeanjean in Languedoc and Bordeaux’s Antoine Moueix Propriétés.
Internationally, the company is active in South Africa through its ownership of L’Avenir and Le Bonheur and majority stakes in Ken Forrester Vineyards and Stellenbosch Vineyards. It generated turnover of €270.1m last year, down 2.7% on 2024.
Cordier by Invivo is part of the wider InVivo agri-food group, which also does business in grain trading, malt, wheat and food distribution. The Invivo group has a turnover of €11.4bn and a workforce of 15,000.
AdVini put the overall value of the transaction at about €11.5m, including an undisclosed "cash component". The company will issue new shares and use treasury shares priced at €35.20 each, giving Cordier by InVivo about 7.8% of AdVini.
Antoine Leccia, the chairman of the board of directors at AdVini, said: “This merger will enable us to accelerate AdVini’s growth, gain a foothold in the dynamic sparkling and low-alcohol wine sectors, and expand our international distribution network, which will benefit all our wine estates.”
AdVini’s board has already approved the transaction. Under the terms of the deal, InVivo Group will take a seat on the AdVini board.
Thierry Blandinières, the CEO of the InVivo group and Cordier by InVivo, said: “In an economic and geopolitical context that has never been so uncertain, with declining consumption in recent years and climate change impacting wine production, the industry is facing unprecedented challenges. It is in this context that I am contributing part of our assets and the full support of our group to AdVini.”
The governance arrangements will also change. InVivo Group will take a seat on AdVini’s board.
