Mumbai, May19, 2008: Champagne Indage Limited (CIL), India’s oldest and largest, pioneering wine making company today announced the acquisition of the consolidated assets of Darlington Wines in the UK, a leading independent supplier of wine from around the World in the ‘120 million cases British wine market’ through its overseas subsidiary. The business is fully backward and forward integrated from import of wine under own labels to bottling, warehousing and distribution.
 

Darlington Wines, over the years has established a reputation for supplying numerous trade channels with the right wines, at the right prices, and with innovative packaging. Their production and bottling facility, Corby Bottlers, is the longest established independent Bag-In-Box wine producer supplying to most of the major supermarkets in the UK, specifically the prestigious J. Sainsbury Group.  The company is rated as Europe's most technically competent filler of wine into Bag-In-Box, with expertise in wine handling techniques and imaginative product formats.

The production from Corby Bottlers is transferred to Birbeck House, their 145,000 square feet state-of-the-art warehouse which is capable of handling 500,000 cases at any one time, under custom bond, for distribution throughout the UK, Ireland and Mainland Europe.

Ranjit S Chougule, Managing Director, Champagne Indage Ltd. said, “This is an exciting milestone for our company, and we are looking forward to scaling our growth with this acquisition. The consolidated assets will give us large scale route to market efficiency in a price competitive market such as the UK, not to mention the positive relationships with large institutional buyers. It will undoubtedly drive greater value immediately for our key stakeholders, including our end consumers.”

This latest acquisition by the company will also further strengthen CIL's three Australian acquisitions which took place in the recent past: Thachi wines in 2007 and Loxton winery and VinCrest in 2008, all based out of South Australia. The Thachi brands include - Broken Earth, Red Skies and South Bay that are being rolled out across the globe, including India.

 

About Champagne Indage Ltd:

Champagne Indage Ltd. is India’s largest and oldest wine company, established in 1982. With vineyards spread over 2500 Hectors, CIL has its facilities in Narayangaon, Nasik and Himachal Pradesh with 20 varieties under commercial plantation and over 137 varietals under nursery cultivation. It has presence across the globe with 10 offices and more than 600 employees.

Winner of 49 International Awards, the company is a pioneer in producing authentic Indian wines, with more than 36 brands of red, white and ‘sparkling wines under their portfolio which covers the lowest to highest price points within the Indian wine market.

The company has deployed the state-of-the-art technology at its manufacturing facility with the largest wine production facility in India, with a capacity of 15 million litre at Narayangaon with a bottling capacity of 15,000 bottles per hour and multiple manufacturing facilities across India, which ensures minimal lead time and consistency in supplies across the country. It has also recently launched a domestically produced vodka brand called 'Just' and 'Carrera xxx' rum.

Champagne Indage is the first sparkling wine producing and exporting company of India, exporting to 69 countries across the globe. Their range of exquisite wines like Chantilli, Ivy, the flamboyant Marquise de Pompadour and many more have won flurry of awards ranging from the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC), held annually at London to Wine Style Asia from Singapore to national levels at the INDY’s. It also holds the honour for being listed in the world wine encyclopedia and is revered by wine critiques from Jancis Robinson to Oz Clarke.