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Rumored acquisition has Oregon’s wine country on edge
Such a deal could have significant ramifications for the industry, but most of the players directly involved are staying mum.
MCMINNVILLE, Ore. — This story comes from the Portland Business Journal, a KGW news partner. The full story and other coverage can be found here.
Oregon wine circles are buzzing with talk that the state’s biggest vineyard management company is on the verge of being acquired by its chief rival.
Such a deal could have significant ramifications for the industry, but most of the players directly involved are staying mum. The only one to go on the record said “no change in ownership has taken place,” but did not elaborate.
Numerous industry sources, however, have told the Business Journal that Atlas Vineyard Management, a Napa, California-based company backed by Juggernaut Capital Partners, will acquire Results Partners, a McMinnville-based division of Orchard & Vineyard Supply, which is backed by Clearview Capital.
None of the industry sources work for the companies or private equity firms involved. Three, however, said they had been told directly by current employees that an acquisition was in the works, if not essentially completed.
Atlas is widely acknowledged as the No. 2 vineyard management company in the state, tending to perhaps 2,500 acres, while Results Partners manages in the neighborhood of 5,000 acres of vines, according to people familiar with their operations. That adds up to one in every six acres of Oregon vineyard, but the proportion is higher in the Willamette Valley, the state’s most prestigious growing region, where their work is concentrated.
Clearview Capital partner Mathias Rumilly, who told the Business Journal on Wednesday that no ownership change had taken place, did not respond to a follow-up question asking if a deal might be pending.