Australian Vintage continues Board restructuring, appoints three new directors

This morning, Australian Vintage Limited announced that James Williamson, Elaine Teh, and Michael Byrne will join the Board as new non-executive directors. This follows on from the appointment of customer-centred business transformation specialist Margaret Zabel as a new non-executive director on 23 July. 

This morning’s news marks a continuation of Australian Vintage’s ongoing efforts to restructure the company after it was forced to conduct a $19.9 million equity raising in June. Following this, the value of Australian Vintage shares dropped to their lowest level since 2010. Today, the share price sits at $0.147, well under half of a recent height of $0.435 on 11 April. 

According to a spokesperson for the Board, the newly appointed non-executive directors will each present a distinct opportunity to the company: “Mr Williamson will be Interim Chair, Ms Teh represents a key strategic partner to further drive growth across key Asia markets and Mr Byrne brings leadership and technical expertise within the logistics, supply chain and retail sectors," they said in an announcement to the ASX.

Joining the Board as a Non-Executive Director and Interim Chair effective, James Williamson is the Chief Investment Officer of Wentworth Williamson, a substantial shareholder of Australian Vintage Limited. Williamson brings with him over 20 years of experience in financial markets including significant experience covering alcoholic beverages beverages as an analyst.

Elaine Teh and Michael Byrne will both join the Board as Non-Executive Directors. Teh brings with her experience as the Founder and Executive Chair of Octopus Global Holdings, the current distributor of Australian Vintage in Singapore and Malaysia. Byren brings with him 30 years of experiences as a non-executive director and leader within the logistics, supply chain, retail and property sectors, including in current roles on the Boards of Ausgrid Asset, Management, Finance and Operator Partnership, NSW Ports, and Peel Ports UK. 

A spokesperson for Australian Vintage’s Board said, "the appointment of Mr Williamson, Ms Teh and Mr Byrne continues the Board renewal process.”

Current acting CEO Peter Perin also remains on the Board after Craig Garvin was dismissed for misconduct in May. 

In addition to the restructuring of its Board, Australian Vintage has also offloaded major vineyards in the Riverina and the Barossa Valley in an effort to steer the company away from debt. The company’s economic difficulties first emerged after receiving correspondence from Accolade Wines stating it was no longer in a position to continue merger discussions. Australian Vintage proceeded to announce it would be pausing share trading, reporting that its net debt was expected to be around $70-$75 million, significantly higher than the forecasted $43-$50 million.

At the time, Acting CEO Peter Perrin said: “the current cycle is proving to be one of the most challenging on record for the Australian wine industry and this is reflected in our expected financial performance for FY24. 

“The capital structures initiatives announced today are designed to provide more adequate levels of liquidity and financial flexibility to navigate the volatile conditions and enable the business to capitalise on future opportunities, including potential consolidation.”