Wine, rather
With wine becoming the investment of choice among brewers, Lion Nathan decided to follow the general trend. In May the Tasman brewer bought a 13.5% stake in the wine company Montana Group, New Zealand’s biggest wine group, for about A$55 million. Montana, which has a dual listing on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges, holds more than 35% of the NZ wine market.
In August, Lion Nathan said it intended to raise the stake by 5% to 25%. The announcement came amid speculation that Lion Nathan only raised its stake to block Foster’s Brewing Group, which had also eyed up Montana. There had been a rumour as early as last year that Foster’s might offer up to A$485 million for Montana..
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