mergers and acquisitions – North Bay Business Journal - North San Francisco Bay Area, Sonoma, Marin, Napa counties

PlumpJack acquires Stags Leap property

February 1st, 2012

NAPA VALLEY — PlumpJack Group today said it acquired the 40-acre Steltzner Vineyards property in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley to produce estate-grown wines from that region.
Printers GPM, Northwestern merge to create third largest

January 30th, 2012

ROHNERT PARK — GPM of Rohnert Park and Impress Northwestern of Santa Rosa have merged, creating the third-largest commercial printer in the North Bay.
Raydiance weighs Petaluma expansion

January 16th, 2012

Raydiance, developer of next-generation laser technology, is considering a major expansion in Petaluma this year. Other items in this commercial real estate column: Santa Barbara-based multifamily property investment firm Nevins Adams Lewbel Schell, or NALS, purchased the 292-unit Rolling Oaks luxury apartment complex at 3700 Lyon Road in Fairfield for $52 million, or about $178,000 a dwelling. … Prima Fluer Botanicals of San Rafael signed a five-year lease for the 14,400-square-foot warehouse and offices at 23 Pimentel Ct. in Novato. … An affiliate of San Francisco-based industrial real estate investor Lowenberg Corp. purchased a 101,700-square-foot warehouse in American Canyon, Lowenberg’s ninth North Bay holding. … As part of planned projects around the Bay Area, San Ramon-based gym chain 24 Hour Fitness has been upgrading its North Bay facilities.
Cotati company acquires International Wine Accessories

January 4th, 2012

SANTA ROSA [updated 6:06 p.m.] — Cotati-based Sonoma Wine Accessories today announced it acquired the assets of International Wine Accessories, a catalog and online seller of glasses, chillers, bottle racks and other items, and part of the Santa Rosa-based Vintage Wine Estates portfolio.
TricorBraun acquires Trilogy Glass

January 3rd, 2012

SANTA ROSA — As the TricorBraun WinePak division relocates early this month to a much larger, automated warehouse in Solano County, its St. Louis-based parent company today said it acquired wine container competitor Trilogy Glass and Packaging, Inc. of Santa Rosa.
Danish investors buy Donum winery

December 27th, 2011

SONOMA — Racke Group, a German wine and spirits group that at one time owned the Haywood and Buena Vista brands, today announced the sale of The Donum Estate, a luxury-tier boutique pinot noir producer on the Sonoma County side of the Carneros appellation, to a partnership of Danish investors.
Novato tea company owner buys River Road Vineyards

December 22nd, 2011

RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY [updated Jan. 3, 2012] — Ron Rubin, owner of Novato-based The Republic of Tea, has added ultrapremium wine to his premium beverage holdings with the acquisition of River Road Vineyards & Winery near the west Sonoma County community of Forestville.
Stevenson Supply acquires Vallejo store from Ruoff

December 16th, 2011

SANTA ROSA — Stevenson Supply, which specializes in products to manage rainwater runoff and the dirt it moves, made its a further step toward expanding sales further into the Bay Area by acquiring Al Ruoff & Son in Vallejo.
Amorim buys south Napa land for expansion

December 12th, 2011

In another expansion move by Portugal-based Amorim Group cork distributors in Napa Valley this year, Amorim Cork America purchased 3.36 acres of land between Devlin Road and Highway 29 just north of Napa Valley Gateway Business Park. Pedro Fernandes, general manager, declined to comment on plans for the property. Industry sources point to the property [...]
REACH Air merges with Oregon ambulance company

December 2nd, 2011

SANTA ROSA — REACH Air Medical Services and Cal-Ore Life Flight today announced they have merged, creating what they describe as a “comprehensive network of medical air and ground transportation in the Western United States.”
Commercial real estate: Madera Vista apartments get $65 million investment

November 21st, 2011

Denver-based Apartment Investment and Management Co. (NYSE: AIV) is betting about $65 million on the renovation of the 126-unit vacant apartment complex in Corte Madera, amounting to $516,000 a unit. Also: Rowland Plaza to be refi’ed not sold; San Rafael Corporate Center gets medical office rezoning; Deer Creek Village courts Friedman’s, Home Depot; Santa Rosa office short-sale lands big tenant.
Winery Exchange revamps Echelon with North Coast grapes

November 14th, 2011

After acquiring the Echelon Vineyards brand from Diageo Chateau & Estates Wines early this year, Novato-based Winery Exchange has revamped the brand inside the bottle and out. … Boisset Family Estates, whose U.S. portfolio of brands includes DeLoach, Buena Vista and Raymond, formed a “strategic partnership” with 75,000-case-a-year Lockwood Vineyard in Monterey County. … Part of the makeover of the Main Street Exchange building at 1040 Main St. in downtown Napa, are tenant improvements to accommodate 22 employees of Huneeus Vintners. The Huneeus family wine company plans to relocate accounting, sales administration and marketing personnel from the Quintessa winery in St. Helena to 5,800 square feet in Napa around the beginning of next year … What started as a novel packaging idea to distinguish their 400-case-a-year Rua wine brand has turned into a business in its own right for Windsor-based wine sales and marketing veterans Máire Murphy and her husband, Walt Averill. In the past year since launching CapaBunga — a surfer-esque play on “capsule” and wine barrel “bung” — they’ve sold 117,000 of the stretchable food-grade silicone bottleneck capsules. … Tony Linegar, 46, Mendocino County agricultural commissioner and sealer of weights and measures for nearly three years, will move to that role in Sonoma County on Jan. 3. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved his appointment Tuesday. … With harvest mostly over in the North Coast, it’s the start of wine business conference season.
Autodesk acquires Canadian gaming software developer

November 7th, 2011

SAN RAFAEL — Design software developer Autodesk Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) has acquired the assets of Montreal-based GRIP Entertainment Technology, which makes artificial-intelligence tools for game software.
A Dominican ‘Venture Greenhouse’ first: A startup is acquired

October 31st, 2011

SAN RAFAEL, NOVATO — Novato-based green energy contractor Evolvelectric has acquired the LED lighting consultant Illumalighting, making it the first company to “graduate” from Dominican University’s Venture Greenhouse.
Sbragia gets ‘significant’ infusion from S.F. private-equity fund

October 25th, 2011

Sbragia Family Vineyards, a Dry Creek Valley-based maker of higher-end wines, received a “significant equity investment” from a wine-focused fund in San Francisco.
Rohnert Park senior apartments sold for $35 million

October 12th, 2011

ROHNERT PARK — Oak View of Sonoma Hills, a 207-unit apartment complex for seniors, was part of a $100 million sale of nearly 600 units in three such properties to a New York-based investor.
Winzler & Kelly, Australian company merge

October 11th, 2011

SANTA ROSA — Winzler & Kelly, the largest consulting engineering firm in the North Bay, today announced it merged with large Australia-based engineering, architecture and environmental consulting company GHD.
Two North Bay shopping centers sell for $55 million

October 5th, 2011

MARIN CITY and NAPA — A Southern California investment group purchased the nearly 182,000-square-foot Marin Gateway Shopping Center in southern Marin County for $36 million, and a Phoenix, Ariz.-based investor purchased the Kohl’s department store-anchored Parkway Plaza center in downtown Napa for $19.83 million.
Traverso’s sold to Marin couple

October 5th, 2011

SANTA ROSA — Traverso’s Gourmet Foods & Liquors, Inc. has been sold to a San Rafael couple for an undisclosed sum, which will effectively close the long-time Santa Rosa establishment that had operated since 1932.
Redwood Empire Food Bank plans $9 million expansion

September 9th, 2011

SANTA ROSA — Redwood Empire Food Bank is moving forward with the first part of a $9 million expansion plan designed to greatly increase the organization’s ability to supply food to a growing number of hungry North Coast families, seniors, adults and children over the next 25 years.