Majestic completes acquisition of Enotria&Coe

Majestic, the wine specialist in retail, wholesale and hospitality, has completed the strategic acquisition of Enotria&Coe, a supplier of premium wines and spirits for an undisclosed sum.

Majestic said the combination accelerates its ambition to become the “go-to” supplier of wines, beers and spirits in the UK on-trade, creating a “best-in-class product and service proposition and trebling its share of the market”.

It said that Enotria&Coe has established “one of the most comprehensive and exclusive ranges of premium wines and spirits of any distributor in the UK”, and works with a diverse range of more than 300 producers.

Founded as Enotria Wines by Remo Nardone in 1972. It supplies a host of premium restaurants, hotels and hospitality venues, including Gaucho, Rick Stein, Hotel du Vin/Malmaison, Bancone and L’Enclume.

Enotria&Coe has grown consistently across all supply channels during the past two decades, acquiring Wheeler Cellars in 2008, Great Western Wine – now trading from its Bath shop as The Great Wine Co – in 2010, and Coe Vintners in 2015.

Majestic has identified significant potential to further grow the Enotria&Coe business alongside its existing B2B specialist arm, Majestic Commercial. The acquisition will also allow for greater investment in technology, people and service across the two businesses.

The acquisition includes all of Enotria&Coe’s 300 colleagues, its fleet of delivery vehicles and existing inventory, as well as the leases on its bonded warehouse and offices in Park Royal, and The Great Wine Co store in Bath.

Enotria&Coe and Majestic Commercial will continue to operate as standalone businesses, focusing on their individual strengths serving national and regional on-trade customers, including some of the top restaurants, bars and hotels in the UK. Enotria&Coe will also continue with its channel strategy supplying multiple and independent retailers, building on its long-standing relationships in the off-trade.

Majestic added the deal represents the “most significant strategic investment” it has made since its split from Naked Wines plc and subsequent acquisition by Fortress Investment Group in December 2019.

Since then, following the reintroduction of former management and with the backing of its investor, Majestic has returned to growth and stability, opening 23 new stores, re-establishing a market-leading and award-winning wine range, and acquiring Vagabond Wines, bringing nine experiential wine bars, 170 colleagues and hundreds of thousands of younger consumers into the Majestic family.

Majestic has also placed renewed focus on its Majestic Commercial arm, driving four consecutive years of double-digit sales growth by expanding its expert sales teams, enhancing its multichannel customer service proposition and curating an award-winning selection of more than 300 on-trade exclusive wines.

Majestic CEO John Colley said: “This is a landmark day in the history of Majestic, and I’d like to personally thank all of my colleagues for the hard work and dedication that has made this possible. We’ve had a long-standing ambition to become the UK’s go-to supplier of premium wines, beers and spirits, and the acquisition of Enotria&Coe is a huge statement of our intent in this market.

“We have grown our specialist on-trade business at an impressive rate over the last five years, but this combination will accelerate our strategy by enhancing our wine portfolio, expanding our team of expert sales colleagues and ramping up our logistics capabilities.”

He added: “Having competed against Enotria&Coe for a number of years, we have first-hand experience of just how compelling and attractive their proposition is in the on-trade. We are incredibly excited about the opportunities we have to develop that further, win a greater share of the UK market and drive profitable growth.

“Through this exciting acquisition, and last year’s purchase of Vagabond Wines, we are repositioning the Majestic Group and laying the foundations for long-term, sustainable growth as the UK’s largest premium wine specialist in retail, wholesale and hospitality.”

Enotria&Coe CEO Julian Momen said: “I am super excited about the start of a new era for the Enotria&Coe business as part of the Majestic Group. The leadership team, along with our entire organisation, are committed to driving better availability, service and range, for the benefit of our customers and our suppliers.

“Our thanks go out to everyone inside and outside the company who has supported Enotria&Coe throughout the last 52 years – your commitment and loyalty are really appreciated. Our future is now even brighter, and I look forward to working with John and his team to create an amazing, market-leading multi-channel business, which provides an excellent service proposition to its customers.”