Wine wholesaler Bibendum PLB has ditched its European arm following a ‘strategic review’ by new owner C&C Group.
Bibendum, which was bought out of administration along with its sister business Matthew Clark by C&C when former owner Conviviality imploded earlier this year, informed customers of the decision this month.
The Irish and Northern Irish customers who fell under Bibendum Europe’s remit will be transferred to Walker & Wodehouse, which is also now owned by C&C and currently supplies booze to independent retailers and wholesalers across the UK.
A letter to customers, seen by The Grocer, said W&W would “offer the same range of products, service and account management” as Bibendum, though individual account managers would change. No redundancies have been made.
A spokesman for Matthew Clark and Bibendum told The Grocer the it had “decided to focus exclusively on our core customers in the UK and Republic of Ireland who represent 98% of our business”. There would be “no impact at all on any of our customers in England, Scotland or Wales”, he stressed.
C&C snapped up Conviviality’s entire wholesale wing, including Bibendum, Matthew Clark and brand agency Catalyst for the nominal fee of £1 in April, when Conviviality collapsed into administration. Its retail business was sold to Bestway.
C&C subsequently re-appointed Bibendum’s previous boss Michael Saunders as CEO and rehired its former COO and CFO James Kowszun, who had stepped down in 2016, as COO. It also announced plans to ‘decouple’ the Matthew Clark and Bibendum businesses, which Conviviality had previously spent the better part of 18 months trying to combine in search of synergies.
Industry sources had claimed at the time that C&C was mulling a sale of the Bibendum PLB business, with one commenting C&C was “much more interested in Matthew Clark”, whose offer is broader and less high-end than Bibendum’s.
However, Glancey shrugged off the claims, stating Bibendum was “an incredible company with incredible penetration” and “not something we’re looking to sell”, though he admitted C&C had “a responsibility to optimise value” if approached.
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