Southport Lane has formed Premium Beverage Group to acquire and consolidate two of its existing portfolio companies, Lieb Cellars and Premium Wine Group. The new platform will also pursue other add-on acquisitions in the alcoholic beverage sector. The acquisition of Lieb Cellars and Premium Wine Group is expected to be completed before year end.
Premium Beverage Group is a publicly traded company and its securities are quoted under the ticker symbol PBEV.
“We have seen a great deal of opportunity in the small-and middle-market alcoholic beverage sector and believe a consolidation strategy under a public company umbrella makes a lot of sense,” said Richard Bailey, CEO of Premium Beverage Group. Mr. Bailey is also a Managing Director at Southport Lane and has been serving as Chief Executive Officer of Beverage Operations since May 2013.
Lieb Cellars produces and sells estate grown wines from their 42 acre vineyard in Cutchogue, NY. The company also leases an additional 44 acres on Long Island’s North Fork (www.liebcellars.com).
Premium Wine Group was founded in 2000 by Mark Lieb and winemaker Russell Hearn and is a contract winemaking facility designed to provide wineries throughout Long Island an economical way to produce wine without huge investment in equipment and facilities. Premium Wine Group produces wines not only for its own Lieb Cellars’ wholesale and mass market efforts, but also approximately 20 other wineries on the North Fork of Long Island (www.premiumwinegroup.com).
Southport Lane invests in insurance and reinsurance, consumer businesses, oil & natural gas, project finance, and wine. The firm invests across the capital structure, targeting investment commitments ranging from $25 million to $250 million. Southport Lane has total capital commitments in excess of $1 billion. The firm was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in New York (www.southportlane.com).
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-19-13
