Get our daily fine wine reviews, latest wine ratings, news and travel guides delivered straight to your inbox.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Two months after Yarraman Winery first launched its bid to take over Evans & Tate a decision appears finally in sight.
Yarraman has put in an improved offer, valuing Evans & Tate at AU$148.3m (€89.3m). This has been accepted conditionally by Evans & Tate.
The two companies must now follow due diligence procedures and there must be a merger implementation agreement by 20 March.
On 20 February the E&T board said they would look to ‘verify the debt and equity commitments for Yarraman’s proposal as well as Yarraman’s forecasts.’
Yarraman’s deal includes paying AU$97.3m (€58.6m) to Evans & Tate’s bankers.
However, Yarraman’s latest results for the three months to 31 December 2006 show a loss of US$1,299.354 (€986.57) and total liabilities of US$8.96m (€6.8m).
In these latest results Yarraman has been obliged to raise ‘substantial concern about its ability to continue as a going concern’.
Get our daily fine wine reviews, latest wine ratings, news and travel guides delivered straight to your inbox.
Evans & Tate retains the right to consider and accept an unsolicited and better offer.
Written by Jim Budd
Jim Budd moved from education to wine in 1988 and has written for Decanter since 1989. He is the former editor (1991-2015) of Circle Update, the newsletter of the Circle of Wine Writers. He writes the award-winning www.jimsloire.blogspot.com and is one of the five members of the Les 5 du Vin blog. Budd exposes the dangers of drinks investment on his award-winning www.investdrinks.org website, and complementary www.investdrinks-blog.blogspot.com blog. He also contributes to Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book, Wine Behind the Label and the Academie du Vin. Budd is a keen photographer – especially in the Loire.