Boursier.com – Paris 31 May 2013
The shares of Chabaud et Associés have been listed on the Alternativa market (Paris) as Alternativa/Chabaud et Associés and referenced under the ISIN FR0011502160 and AACHA ticker codes.
Company Presentation
Domaine Chanzy was founded in 1974 in Bouzeron in the heart of Burgundy by the Chanzy family, which was originally from Champagne.
The Chanzy family operated the domaine skillfully for thirty-four years until is was transferred in 2008 to Sportys SAS, an advertising business that specialized in events and rugby. Chanzy vineyards then consisted of forty hectares from fourteen appellations in three areas of Côte Chalonnaise, as well as vineyards in Santenay, Puligny-Montrachet and Vosne-Romanée.
Unfortunately, after two years of operation, Domaine Chanzy was placed in receivership in May 2011, mainly due to the bankruptcy of the holding company to which it belonged.
There followed a period when there were a number of offers to purchase Chanzy. In November 2012, the Commercial Court of Chalons-sur-Saone approved the purchase of Domaine Chanzy by Chabaud et Associés. There had been three bidders in the running: a local group of growers and dealers, a dealer from Paris, and Chabaud et Associés.
Domaine Chanzy now has 38.2 hectares freehold all in vineyards except for four hectares yet to be planted, and it operates as a viticulture and winemaking business. The winery produces white and red wines with appellations that include Bouzeron (white), Burgundy (red and white), Rully (red and white), Mercurey and Mercurey 1er Cru (red and white), Santenay 1er Cru (red and white), Puligny Montrachet (white) and Vosnes Romanée (red).
The Numbers
The owners and management of Chabaud and Associates are well-acquainted with the world of wine, and they identified problems with Domaine Chanzy very quickly. The distribution channel in place had not been profitable, and had sold 27% of its wine as bulk wine in 2011. This sales policy proved disastrous because it does not allow for an adequate profit margin since the price ratio between the sales of bottled wine versus bulk is 4 to 1. In addition, Chanzy had little exposure to the international markets, which accounted for just 4% of sales in 2011, and 8% in 2012, whereas the average for Burgundy wines are more than 50%.
This positioning error had resulted in heavy losses that accumulated to 5.8 million euros of total losses between 2009 and 2012, bringing the equity to minus EUR 5.2 million and bank borrowings to 4 million before the purchase by its new shareholder, Chabaud and Associates.
Read more… (French)
Chabaud et Associés: History in the Making
