Majestic Wine is to acquire Naked Wines, the Norwich-based online wine supplier, for £70m to create an international, multi-channel specialist wine retailing group.
Naked Wines has a strong growth track record. For the year ended 31 December 2014 sales of £74m, were up 40% year on year, with an EBITDA loss of £3.3m. It currently has over 300,000 customers funding over 130 winemakers, underpinned by large and growing wine markets.
The Naked Wines senior team will remain with the business and Rowan Gormley, founder and CEO of Naked Wines, has been appointed as CEO of the enlarged Majestic.
Majestic expects to announce adjusted pre-tax profit of approximately £21m for the year ended 31 March 2015.
Phil Wrigley, Majestic's Chairman (pictured left), commented, 'The acquisition of Naked Wines represents a transformational deal. The two businesses have significant strengths which are very complementary. Majestic's distribution skills, a nationwide UK store network and customer service orientated knowledgeable staff, are a perfect fit with Naked Wines' unique sourcing and selling model.
'This acquisition will significantly accelerate the planned development of Majestic's online capabilities whilst providing Naked Wines with a nationwide store network to allow a Click & Collect delivery option for its customers. In addition, this acquisition opens up attractive international markets, increasing our potential customer reach eightfold.
'I am delighted that Rowan has agreed to be the new CEO for the enlarged Majestic. He has a fantastic track record as a successful businessman, innovator and entrepreneur in the wine industry and beyond. He has also assembled a deep pool of talent at Naked Wines with a similar culture to Majestic.'
Rowan Gormley, Majestic's CEO (right), commented, 'The combination of Naked Wines and Majestic provides the very exciting opportunity to build a world class wine retailer, serving customers who are looking for inspiration that the supermarkets cannot provide. This is great news for the customers, staff and suppliers of both businesses and will ultimately create significant shareholder value.'