Digital Wine Ventures which owns WineDepot has acquired specialist wine warehousing and logistics business, Parton Wine Distribution which operates warehouses in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
Parton Wine Distribution describes itself as “one of Australia’s leading third party logistics companies”. Established in Perth in 2007, it has since expanded to Sydney and Melbourne with 23,000 square meters of warehousing across all three sites, growing to become one of Australia’s largest specialist wine and beverage logistics providers.
Digital Wine Ventures shares went into a trading halt on Thursday morning as Blue Ocean Equities went about raising just shy of $7.5 million. (Digital Wine Ventiures will contribute $125K to make up the shortfall.)
WineDepot CEO Dean Taylor (pictured below) described the acquisition as a significant value-add for customers, allowing the company to take its integrated trading, logistics and payment management technology platform to the next level.
Mr Taylor said, “We are really excited to become the custodians of Parton Wine Distribution. Their long track record in the industry, 23,000 sqm of warehousing, stacked together with almost 100 experienced and dedicated staff, provides a significant boost to our operational capability.”
The acquisition reduces WineDepot’s reliance on third party logistics providers and will position WineDepot as a market leader in the wine logistics sector. WineDepot will take on Parton’s 150-strong existing customer base and a customer inventory worth an estimated $200m as well as its fleet of more than 30 delivery vehicles servicing Sydney, Melbourne and Perth metropolitan areas.
Parton Wine Group Founder Richard Raddon will join WineDepot’s senior executive team as General Manager of the Logistics division, assisting in the post-merger integration of his business. His son David, with 25 years’ logistics and operational experience, will join the business as National Operations Manager.
WineDepot currently controls a 10,000 pallet National Distribution Centre in Albury/Wodonga and 3,000 pallet depot in Adelaide.
“Having our own dedicated fleet of delivery vans and drivers will ensure we provide an exceptional experience for suppliers using WineDepot LOGISTICS and trade buyers using WineDepot Market, our recently launched direct-to-trade online marketplace.
“In addition, direct management of our own warehouses allows us to offer on-demand picking, late cut-off times and temperature controlled, cold chain and bonded storage to our customers right up and down the supply chain.”
WineDepot Market
The acquisition news coincides with the Melbourne launch of WineDepot’s a direct-to-trade online marketplace on Thursday. WineDepot Market launched in Sydney in late May and is designed to connect producers with buyers in hotels, restaurants and liquor stores.
The platform is intended to eliminate the inefficiencies in supply chain and wholesaling and is described by Mr Taylor as the opportunity to move to “a single platform, with a single invoice and single credit account”.
“The initial take-up that we have seen so far has been very encouraging and provides a clear indication of the latent demand for the unique solution that we’ve created. Considering the uncertainty and disruption associated with this waved of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, I’m extremely proud of what we’ve managed to achieve so far.
“We identified the need for a comprehensive direct-to-trade platform in the local wine market years ago and launching in our second major sity shows we’re closing in our goal.”
