Regional winery Purcari invests in online wine retail platform

Regional winery Purcari invests in online wine retail platform
By bne IntelliNews May 17, 2021

Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) listed Purcari Wineries, a major CEE wine producer based in Romania and Moldova, announced on May 14 the closing of a 10% minority investment in the business of 8Wines.com, a fast-growing online retailer of wines.

As part of the transaction, Purcari, the first outside investor in the company’s capital, will acquire a 10% stake in the business, as well as being granted the option to further increase its participation at a pre-defined valuation during a set period of time.

Launched in 2015 by Vasily Dinkov and Sergey Nekipelov, 8Wines have bootstrapped their way to becoming a leading online retailer of premium wines in Europe. The company booked revenues of €1.5mn in 2020, up 2.9 times y/y, and targets an increase to €4.5mn for 2021. The business is profitable.

8Wine offers a wide selection of premium wines, including rare finds. The company delivers to over 40 markets, primarily in Europe, but extending as far away as Australia and Singapore. With its operational base in Prague, 8Wines runs a lean operation, allowing it to also offer attractive prices to consumers.

“We tested the 8Wines service both, as consumers and as a supplier, and have been truly impressed by it. Vasily and Sergey have built a spectacular service and business, with a tremendous growth potential. In addition to this being a very compelling investment on its own, we see a significant strategic benefit for Purcari, in building our ecommerce capabilities, which are crucial in the post-COVID market reality. As a minority investor, we are committed to preserve 8Wines’ management autonomy, while bringing a valuable wine-producer  perspective to the table, to the benefit of all 8Wine’s consumers and suppliers,” said Eugen Comendant, Purcari chief operating officer.

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