Thornbury Wines, the much-lauded New Zealand wine company, has been bought by compatriot Villa Maria for an undisclosed sum.
The family-owned Thornbury company, founded eight years ago, had been considering offers after one of its founding members decided to leave the business.
Remaining founder Steve Bird had been considering takeover offers for nearly a year before deciding on Villa Maria.
Bird said that the award-winning Villa Maria Group presented the most attractive offer.
‘We had to re-capitalise and grow, or stay still and shrink,’ said Bird. ‘Villa Maria came along and solved all our problems.’
The multi-million dollar deal was concluded last Friday.
Thornbury currently exports 90% of its production, mainly Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand’s most popular grape variety. It had contract growers and vineyards in the top Marlborough regions of Wairau, Waihopai and Awatere.
There are no reports of any planned redundancies.
Written by Oliver Styles
