Round-up: Foster's captures Southcorp for 'brand Australia'

Australian beer group Foster's has closed the net on its target acquisition, fellow Australian wine firm Southcorp, after securing a 50.9 per cent voting majority in the company.

At the same time Foster's said it had made its bid for Southcorp, through wholly-owned subsidiary Beringer Blass Wines, unconditional. The deadline for the offer is now 26 May.

At the end of April, Southcorp said that a majority of its board members had advised shareholders to accept Foster's A$3.17 billion (£1.3 billion) takeover bid, valuing Southcorp's shares at $4.26 each.

Southcorp's CEO John Ballard rejected Foster's bid, as he and others have done since Foster's began stalking the winery in January.

Foster's, if successful, would pick up Southcorp's strong wine brands such as Lindemans, Rosemount and Penfolds, enabling it launch a formidable 'brand Australia' on the world wine market.

Constellation must show Allied the money​

The consortium led by Constellation Brands has held further talks with Allied Domecq over a potential takeover bid for the firm, yet has still not shown evidence it would be able to raise the necessary cash.

Allied said it had received an indicative proposal from Constellation, but that this was "highly conditional, being subject to considerable further due diligence, confirmation of financing and a number of other significant conditions"​.

It is still unclear whether the Constellation consortium, including Brown-Forman, Lion Capital and Blackstone Group, will be able to put together a formal offer for Allied to rival the €10.3 bid already tabled by Pernod Ricard.

Pernod will become the world's largest wine and spirits group if successful, grabbing core spirits brands such as Beefeater gin, Malibu and Stolichnaya vodka. The group would sell off other big names, including Canada Club and Courvoisier, to US-based Fortune Brands for €4.1 million.

Andres conquers Canadian wine sector​

Consolidation is continuing elsewhere in the wine and spirits world after Andres Wines said it had signed a deal to buy Cascadia, one of Canada's largest producers of premium brand wine, craft beer and spirits.

Andres Wines already has wineries in British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia with brands including Peller Estates, Hillebrand Estates and Domaine D'Or.

By acquiring Cascadia from Swiss investment firm Uniinvest Holding, Andres will be able to improve market strength and expand into Vancouver and Kelowna.