Martinborough Vineyard and Burnt Spur Martinborough said today they had agreed on a proposal to merge.
A joint statement said the proposal was supported by Martinborough Vineyard shareholders. They said consolidation of smaller wineries which specialise in pinot noir was "both desirable and inevitable, given New Zealand's tiny scale in the
global wine industry".
Shareholders in publicly listed Burnt Spur will vote on the proposal at a special general meeting on February 4.
If approval is given, the merger will take effect next month.
Burnt Spur was formerly Lintz Estate, which gained some notoriety after winning a gold medal for its 1997 shiraz wine where the wine in the competition differed from the same label wine sold in shops.
Its former directors, Chris and Doris Lintz, left New Zealand for Germany in 2001 after Mr Lintz's contract as winemaker was terminated by former chairman John Falloon due to "unacceptable losses" since it listed in 1999.
Because it is a public company, Burnt Spur will be used as the vehicle for the proposed merger, which will be effected by issuing new Burnt Spur shares to Martinborough shareholders. The merged company will be called Martinborough Vineyard Estates Ltd.
The chairman of the new company will be Burnt Spur director Roger Gaskell.
Duncan Milne, currently executive chairman of Martinborough, will be a director of the new company.
The new entity will have about 65ha of varietal grapes under cultivation in its own vineyards.
No staff redundancies are planned as a result of the merger, but there will be some changes in responsibilities and reporting lines, the companies said.
Burnt Spur's chief executive Stephanie Hagen will head the new company.
It will operate from the current Martinborough Vineyard Princess Street premises with the Burnt Spur site being put up for sale. Winemaking will be consolidated in an expanded facility at Princess Street, with Claire Mulholland as chief winemaker.
Both the Martinborough Vineyard and Burnt Spur labels will be retained in the meantime, "so that the new company can take full advantage of the reputation these brands have achieved in the marketplace".
- NZPA
