SANTA ROSA, Calif., June 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vintage Wine Estates, Inc. (NASDAQ: VWE) (TSX: VWE.U) (TSX: VWE.WT.U) (“VWE” or the “Company”), one of the fastest growing U.S. wine producers with an industry leading direct-to-customer platform, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of The Sommelier Company. Founded by Principal Jörn (“Joey”) Kleinhans PhD, CFA, in 2013, The Sommelier Company is a global provider of independent wine and spirits expertise, private tasting events and education. The acquisition will enhance VWE’s direct-to-consumer channel, which represents 30% of Vintage Wine Estates’ net revenue.
“The Sommelier Company will add considerable reach to our direct-to-consumer and business-to-business customer base. We believe the acquisition will provide additional revenue and a strong Adjusted EBITDA contribution,” said Pat Roney, CEO of Vintage Wine Estates.
The Sommelier Company’s fiscal year 2020 net revenue exceeded $5 million with an Adjusted EBITDA margin greater than 60%. The consideration is approximately $8 million, plus an earn-out tied to future performance of the Company. The acquisition is immediately accretive to earnings.
The Sommelier Company conducts virtual and in-person events internationally, with certified sommeliers at the highest level presenting guided tasting experiences customized for each audience. Events include corporate team-building, wine appreciation seminars, client events and consumer events. Services also include wine and spirits consulting and wine scoring. The Sommelier Company will offer a selection of Vintage Wine Estates wines, including custom labels and etched bottles from Windsor Vineyards. The Sommelier Company will also begin offering Vintage Wine Estates wines for their guests to purchase in addition to Corporate Gifts and Concierge level service and events at Vintage Wine Estates wineries.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer the services of The Sommelier Company to our direct and business consumers and look forward to expanding the opportunities to present our portfolio of wines to a highly qualified and wine-enthusiastic customer base,” commented Jessica Kogan, Vintage Wine Estates’ Chief Digital Officer and Chief Marketing Officer.
In addition to his passion for wine and culture, Founder and Principal Joey Kleinhans brings a strong financial background to Vintage Wine Estates, where he will continue to direct The Sommelier Company. He earned his PhD in wine-focused business strategy from the University of California, Irvine. Prior to founding The Sommelier Company, Mr. Kleinhans founded The Council of Whiskey Masters and held the roles of Vice President at PIMCO, Investment Analyst and Portfolio Manager at INVSCO and KPMG, and was named a U.S. Fulbright Scholar.
About Vintage Wine Estates, Inc.
Vintage Wine Estates is a family of wineries and wines whose singular focus is producing the finest quality wines and incredible customer experiences with wineries throughout Napa, Sonoma, California’s Central Coast, Oregon and Washington State. Since its founding 20 years ago, the Company has become a top 15 U.S. wine producer via organic and acquisitive growth, today selling more than 2 million nine-liter equivalent cases annually. To achieve this growth, the Company curates, creates, stewards and markets its many brands and services to customers and end consumers via a balanced omni-channel strategy encompassing direct-to-consumer, wholesale and exclusive brands arrangements with national retailers. VWE is diverse across price points and varietals with over 50 brands ranging from $10-$150 USD at retail, with the majority selling in the $12-$20 USD price range. For more information, visit https://www.vintagewineestates.com/.
Financial Information; Non-GAAP Financial Measures
VWE uses Adjusted EBITDA to supplement GAAP measures of performance to evaluate the effectiveness of its business strategies. This metric is also frequently used by analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate companies in VWE’s industry, when considered alongside other GAAP measures. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation expense, casualty losses or gains, impairment losses, changes in the fair value of derivatives, restructuring related income or expenses, acquisition and integration costs, and certain non-cash, nonrecurring, or other items that are included in net income that VWE does not consider indicative of its ongoing operating performance, including COVID-related adjustments.
Adjusted EBITDA is not a recognized measure of financial performance under GAAP. VWE believes this non-GAAP measure provide analysts, investors and other interested parties with additional insight into the underlying trends of VWE’s business and assists these parties in analyzing VWE’s performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that VWE does not believe are indicative of its core operating performance, which allows for a better comparison against historical results and expectations for future performance.
VWE management uses this non-GAAP measure to understand and compare operating results across reporting periods for various purposes including internal budgeting and forecasting, short and long-term operating planning, employee incentive compensation, and debt compliance. This non-GAAP measure is not intended to replace the presentation of VWE’s financial results in accordance with GAAP. Use of the term Adjusted EBITDA is not calculated in the same manner by all companies, and accordingly, is not necessarily comparable to similarly entitled measures of other companies and may not be an appropriate measure for performance relative to other companies. VWE has presented Adjusted EBITDA solely as supplemental disclosure because VWE believes it allows for a more complete analysis of VWE’s results of operations. Adjusted EBITDA has certain limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of these limitations include:
- although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements or for new capital expenditure requirements;
- Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;
- Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect the significant interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on our debt;
- Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect income tax payments that may represent a reduction in cash available to us; and
- other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate Adjusted EBITDA differently, which reduces its usefulness as a comparative measure.
Because of these limitations, you should consider Adjusted EBITDA alongside other financial performance measures, including net income and our other GAAP results. In evaluating Adjusted EBITDA, you should be aware that in the future we may incur expenses that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments in this presentation. Our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an implication that our future results will be unaffected by the types of items excluded from the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA.
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Mary Ann Vangrin
MVangrin@vintagewineestates.com