Virgin Wines

Last updated
Virgin Wines
Formerly
  • Fax Style Limited (July 1999–August 1999)
  • Orgasmic Wines Limited (1999–2000) [1]
Company typeRetail
Industry Wine
Founder Virgin Group
Headquarters
United Kingdom
Areas served
  • United Kingdom
  • Australia
  • United States
Key people
  • Jay Wright (UK)
  • Rachel Robinson (AU)
ProductsWine
Parent Virgin Wines Holding Company Limited (UK) [1]
Website virginwines.co.uk

Virgin Wines Online Limited, [1] trading as Virgin Wines, is an online wine retailer based in the United Kingdom.

Contents

The company was established in 2000 by Richard Branson's Virgin Group, and in 2005 was bought by Direct Wines. In November 2013, CEO Jay Wright, and the management team, supported by Mobeus Equity Partners and Connection Capital provided a combined debt and equity package to support the £15.9 million management buy-out. [2]

History

Established under Richard Branson's Virgin banner in 2000, Virgin Wines became a subsidiary of Direct Wines in 2005. However Virgin Wines kept the Virgin name. They continue to work closely with the Virgin Group.

Jay Wright, founder of Warehouse Wines, became Managing Director of Virgin Wines in June 2008. His arrival began a significant period of restructuring, which included merging the Warehouse Wines brand with that of Virgin Wines. The merged company combined both businesses by capitalising upon Virgin's presence in the online sector and Warehouse Wines’ mail order experience.

In July 2013, Virgin Wines won the award for innovator of the year at the International Wine Challenge Merchant of the Year Awards. [3]

In November 2013, Mobeus Equity Partners and Connection Capital provided a combined debt and equity package to support the £15.9 million management buy-out of Virgin Wines from Direct Wines to make the company fully independent, owned by its management team. [4] The Virgin name was maintained and Virgin Wines continues to work with the Virgin group.

In 2015 Virgin reported an increase in turnover for its main online business of 13% in the year to 3 July, the first full financial year following the management buy-out. Annual sales nudged £40 million and trading profit stood at £4.3 million. [5]

In 2021 the company announced its intention to join the London stock market with a listing on the AIM market.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leveraged buyout</span> Acquired control over a company by the purchase of its shares with borrowed money

A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money (leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loans, along with the assets of the acquiring company. The use of debt, which normally has a lower cost of capital than equity, serves to reduce the overall cost of financing the acquisition. This is done at the risk of magnified cash flow losses should the acquisition perform poorly after the buyout.

The Carlyle Group Inc. is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and private credit. It is one of the largest mega-funds in the world. In 2015, Carlyle was the world's largest private equity firm by capital raised over the previous five years, according to the PEI 300 index. In the 2023 ranking however, it had slipped to fifth place.

In the field of finance, private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public. Private equity is offered instead to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the companies. In casual usage, "private equity" can refer to these investment firms rather than the companies that they invest in.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgin Group</span> British multinational conglomerate

Virgin Group Limited is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kohlberg Kravis Roberts</span> American investment manager

KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strategic partners, hedge funds. As of December 31, 2022, the firm had completed more than 690 private equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $700 billion of total enterprise value. As of December 31, 2022, assets under management (AUM) and fee paying assets under management (FPAUM) were $504 billion and $412 billion, respectively.

A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management- and/or leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 1980s business economics. These so-called MBOs originated in the US, spreading first to the UK and then throughout the rest of Europe. The venture capital industry has played a crucial role in the development of buyouts in Europe, especially in smaller deals in the UK, the Netherlands, and France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TPG Inc.</span> American investment company

TPG Inc., previously known as Texas Pacific Group and TPG Capital, is an American private equity firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. The firm is focused on leveraged buyouts and growth capital. TPG manages investment funds in growth capital, venture capital, public equity, and debt investments. The firm invests in a range of industries including consumer/retail, media and telecommunications, industrials, technology, travel, leisure, and health care.

Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, crypto, tech opportunities, partnership opportunities, special situations, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry sectors and geographic regions. As of 2022, the firm managed approximately $165 billion of investor capital. The firm was founded in 1984 by partners from the consulting firm Bain & Company. The company is headquartered at 200 Clarendon Street in Boston with 22 offices in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgin Money UK</span> UK-based bank and financial services company

Virgin Money is a banking and financial services brand operating in the United Kingdom.

Sanity is an online Australian music and entertainment retailer. The brand specialises in the sale of CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and related merchandise and accessories. It is privately owned by Ray Itaoui. Previously operating through a chain of retail stores in Australia, it has been run as an online-only business since March 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apollo Global Management</span> American private equity company

Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American private equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of 2022, the company had $548 billion of assets under management, including $392 billion invested in credit, including mezzanine capital, hedge funds, non-performing loans, and collateralized loan obligations, $99 billion invested in private equity, and $46.2 billion invested in real assets, which includes real estate and infrastructure. The company invests money on behalf of pension funds, financial endowments, and sovereign wealth funds, as well as other institutional and individual investors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of private equity and venture capital</span>

The history of private equity, venture capital, and the development of these asset classes has occurred through a series of boom-and-bust cycles since the middle of the 20th century. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel, although interrelated tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early history of private equity</span>

The early history of private equity relates to one of the major periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel although interrelated tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Private equity in the 1990s</span>

Private equity in the 1990s relates to one of the major periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital, experienced growth along parallel although interrelated tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Private equity in the 2000s</span>

Private equity in the 2000s represents one of the major growth periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital expanded along parallel and interrelated tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vie at Home</span>

Vie at Home, formerly The Virgin Cosmetics Company and Virgin Vie At Home, was a retailer and distributor of cosmetics. The company was formed as The Virgin Cosmetics Company by Mark and Liz Warom with the backing of the Virgin Group in 1997, and was renamed Virgin Vie at Home in 2006. Vie at Home specialised in the direct selling of make up, skin care, body care, jewellery and homeware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmer and Harvey</span> Former UK retail wholesaler

Palmer and Harvey plc was a UK-based wholesaler that serviced the multiples and convenience sectors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trimaran Capital Partners</span> American middle-market private equity firm

Trimaran Capital Partners is a middle-market private equity firm formerly affiliated with CIBC World Markets. Trimaran is headquartered in New York City and founded by former investment bankers from Drexel Burnham Lambert. Trimaran's predecessors were early investors in telecom and Internet businesses, most notably backing Global Crossing in 1997. Trimaran also led the first leveraged buyout of an integrated electric utility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centerbridge Partners</span> Multi-strategy private investment firm

Centerbridge Partners is a multi-strategy private investment firm focused on leveraged buyouts and distressed securities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auction Technology Group</span> British trade magazine for art and antiques

Metropress Limited, trading as Auction Technology Group, is a digital marketplace business listed on the London Stock Exchange. It also publishes Antiques Trade Gazette which is a London-based weekly publication and website serving the art and antiques community and was the original genesis of the business but is now a small proportion of the group’s revenues. The print publication has around 16,000 subscribers (2015). It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "VIRGIN WINE ONLINE LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House . 1999-07-05. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  2. Mercer, Chris (13 November 2013). "Direct Wines sells Virgin Wines in £16m buyout". Decanter. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  3. Goodman, Kate. "Virgin Wines named 'Innovator of the Year'". Virgin.com. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  4. Monaghan, Angela (12 November 2013). "Virgin Wines' UK business in £14m management buyout". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  5. Huddleston, Nigel. "Virgin Wines record 4.3 million trading profit". Harpers. Retrieved 5 November 2015.