Matariki assets snapped up by Delegat's

Jim Delegat, Managing Director of Delegat's. Photo / NZ Herald

The winery and vineyard assets of the troubled Matariki group - which was placed into receivership last year owing over $11 million - have been snapped up.

NZX-listed Delegat's Group, which is the producer and marketer of Oyster Bay wines, announced this morning they had purchased the winery and vineyard assets of Hawkes Bay's Matariki Wines and an associated company Stony Bay Wines for $8.5 million.

Following the 61-hectare purchase, Delegat's now has 500 hectares of vineyards in the region.

Delegat's managing director Jim Delegat said the deal made sense, given the company already had holdings in the area that were adjacent to the "high-quality, valuable" vineyards bought.

"It's a question now of attaching them to our existing operations, which give us additional scale," Delegat said.

The company did not purchase the Matariki and Stony Bay Wines brands and the grapes from the vineyards will be bottled under Delegat's existing brands, he said.

Delegat's sell around 2 million cases of wine a year and recorded revenue of $221.5 million for the 12 months' ending June 30 2012.

Matariki Wines Ltd and Stony Bay Wines Ltd were placed into receivership last September by Rabobank.