Yahoo Finance Chapel Down toasts growth impetus with £18.5m fundraising
Winemaker Chapel Down has secured the backing of a new institutional investor in a £18.5m fundraising which marks a step-change for the company.
The Kent-based business has previously raised much of its capital through crowd-funding but it said it had now attracted its first global institutional investor, whose identity is set to be disclosed in the coming weeks.
Besides the new investor, existing shareholder IPGL, the family office of ICAP founder Michael Spencer, and Chapel Down’s board and management team also contributed.
The money raised means the company is worth almost £70m as the new shares represent nearly 27pc of the enlarged share capital.
Chief executive Frazer Thompson said the cash would be used to buy roughly 500 acres of new vineyard land, for investment in its sales and marketing team and to build out its Curious beer brand as well as its recent entry into the gin and vodka markets. He also hopes to meet growing international demand for his company's products.
Mr Thompson added that the company would offer existing investors the chance to buy even more shares up to a total value of nearly £1.5m to help it hit £20m in total. Any extra funds would be used to help support the daily cash requirements of the business as well as help it pursue any mergers it wanted to act upon.
The company also provided an update on trading, which showed turnover is expected to be £11.6m for the current financial year, in line with forecasts.
Chapel Down has also recently strengthened its senior team with the hire of BrewDog’s Gareth Bath, to help drive its beer business, and Mark Harvey from Moët Hennessy owner LVMH to push its new spirits business.
Mr Thompson said he expected “rapid beer growth” from the company next year thanks to the delivery of its own brewery at the end of 2018.
