Jim Delegat provides answers for Delegat's Group

Delegat's Group - which owns the popular Oyster Bay brand - unveiled plans to list on the stock exchange this week. Managing director Jim Delegat took some time out to say why the company is heading down the public path.

Why bother listing a wine company on the stock exchange? Why does the company need cash?

We've felt for a long time that Delegat's would be well suited to public listing because it's successful, it's in a business that people love to be part of and it's got great opportunities. The cash raised in the IPO is about funding the strategies driving expansion and global growth. We could have elected to stay private and not grow, but where's the fun in that?

There's been a lot of talk about timing and negative sentiment in the market. How have you found the reaction from brokers and investors?

Talk is cheap. The tangible reaction has been positive - the IPO has been on the radar for a long time and I've never had any reason to be concerned about our prospects.

Is the wine industry a high-risk investment?

Risk has many dimensions - the business you're in, your position within that business and how you run your business. We're aware of the risks we face - the largest being climate and currency - and we manage accordingly.

How much of a hassle was last year's battle (with Peter Yealands) for control of Oyster Bay Marlborough Vineyards?

It was a distraction but Delegat's had made a set of commitments to Oyster Bay when that company was floated in 1999 and we were determined to honour them.

Why did you need control? You owned the rights to the brand.

From our perspective, it wasn't about getting control because we had always been happy as a 32 per cent shareholder. Our business relationship with Oyster Bay was on a solid footing, governed by arm's length contracts and a good commercial framework that served the interests of both companies. The takeover contest was about the future of Oyster Bay. When Mr Yealands made his move, we could not be sure that he would be committed to the direction of Oyster Bay as we were. We felt we had to act.

You and your partners have offered investors a kind of personal guarantee that Delegat's will meet its prospectus target for 2007. Why?

It's not so much a guarantee as an offset - if the company doesn't meet its 2007 earnings projection the Delegat family will have some shares cancelled, increasing the other shareholders' equity in proportion to the shortfall.

We did it as a demonstration of confidence and goodwill.

What's your favourite wine at the moment?

All wine, but the choice depends on the occasion.