HOPLAND -- The locally produced Piper Sonoma sparkling wine brand is part of deal Remy Cointreau Group announced today to sell the Piper-Heidsieck group of Champagne brands to Societe Europeenne de Participations Industrielles, or EPI, for an enterprise value of €412.2 million, or nearly $593 million.
The deal is set to close in June.
Remy Cointreau inked a deal to sell Piper-Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck brands from the Champagne region of France as well as Piper Sonoma, produced in Mendocino County since 2007, in exchange for paying off €240 million ($345 million) in Piper-Heidsieck group debt to Remy Cointreau and €146.3 million ($210 million) in cash. Of the latter, €71.3 million would be due immediately and the rest financed by the seller over nine years.
The Champagne division’s turnover was €103.6 million ($149 million) in the 12 months ended March 31, an increase of 7.2 percent from a year before.
Piper Sonoma started in Sonoma County in 1980 as a bid by a Champagne producer to employ the same method of sparkling wine making in the New World.
Remy Cointreau USA sold the winery southwest of Healdsburg to J Vineyards & Winery in 1997 and continued to make wine there under contract until 2007. Then the brand moved to Rack & Riddle Custom Wine Services in Hopland, followed by Remy brand Bearboat.
