This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Business news: UB turns to the Loire
Indian company, United Breweries (UB) is looking to buy the Taittinger subsidiary Bouvet-Ladubay after it failed to acquire Taittinger Champagne earlier this year.
It is set to acquire the Loire-based sparkling wine producer for US$15 million as part of its strategy to penetrate the high quality premium wine market.
If successful, the deal will give UB access to cutting-edge technology and will mark its first significant move outside the Indian market. The group is also contemplating expansion into Russia and South Africa, and is said to be in the preliminary stages of establishing its presence in China.
UB quit the high-profile race for Taittinger when a bidding war looked set to commence as the Champagne industry lobbied to keep Champagne assets under French control. This allowed the founding family, backed by French bank Crédit Agricole du Nord Est, to acquire the Champagne house for around E660m.
The vendor, US investment group Starwood, selected the Taittinger family bid from eight final offers after the Comité Interprofessional du Vin de Champagne, expressed concern about the house falling under the control of a company from a country that does not recognise the international status of the Champagne appellation.
© db July 2006