Wednesday, 12 March 2014

12.3.14 Single buyer sought for Garvey and Zoilo Ruiz Mateos

The administrator of bodegas Garvey (the huge Complejo Bodeguero Bellavista) and bodegas Zoilo Ruiz Mateos are looking for one buyer for both bodegas, since both the ex Nueva Rumasa concerns share production facilities. Both are still active going concerns, with Zoilo employing 70 people, and owning bodegas and 400 ha of vineyard. The hope is that the two companies can be sold within the next six months.

Some vineyard and stock of wine has already been sold in order to provide some money for the company to meet expenses. The sale will include all the Garvey brand names, and a protective embargo has been put on them. Also embargoed as a precautionary measure are Grupo Garvey registered names, such as Bodegas Garvey, Garvey, Garvey BV among others, actually owned by Engel Overseas Ltd of Belize.


The brands of Zoilo Ruiz Mateos do not have this problem, as the bodega is the exclusive supplier of Sherry for Sandeman. This relates to a deal from 2004 by which Nueva Rumasa took over the entire bodegas and vineyards of Sandeman - but not the brand – which Rumasa desperately wanted. Anyway, Garvey and Zoilo both belong to Back In Business, whose owner, Angel de Cabo is in preventive custody for fraud with Marsans, a travel company.


While there are no firm offers on the table yet, there has been interest from agricultural alimentary companies from outside the Sherry zone. Let us hope this sale can be brought to a successful conclusion, and that both bodegas – or all three if we include Sandeman – can get on with producing top notch Sherry without worry about their future.

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