One of Australia’s largest independent winemakers has been placed in receivership.
Littore Wine Group, which is based in Geelong in regional Victoria but also operates a vineyard in Mildura, is now in the hands of external managers.
Ferrier Hodgson partners John Hart, Ryan Eagle and Stewart McCallum were appointed as receivers and managers and agents for the mortgagee for several related entities in the Littore Vineyards group on October 6.
The group’s other assets and operations, including Idyll Vineyards, Cudgee Creek Vineyards and Gol Gol Vineyards are controlled by Ferrier Hodgson
However, Littore Family Wines, which is also under external management, is currently controlled by PPB Advisory.
The businesses are continuing to trade as normal.
Littore Wine Group partner Vince Littore told The Geelong Advertiserearlier this month he could not comment on the factors that led to the receivership but said he hoped everything would be resolved soon.
“We’re a local Geelong family who keep working hard on our businesses, and we believe everything will pan out,” Littore said.
Ferrier Hodgson partner Stewart McCallum told SmartCompany there has already been a “strong” interest in the company’s assets.
“Initial interest in both the vineyards and winery has been strong,” McCallum says.
The Littore winemaking business was founded by Mario and Aurora Littore, who migrated to Australia from Italy in the 1950s. The Littores started their first vineyard, Jindalee, near Mildura, which now includes 1800 hectares of high-yielding grapevines, along with 5000 hectares of bushland.
Their sons Vince and David Littore created Jindalee Estate Wines after purchasing the Idyll winery in the Moorabool Valley near Geelong.
The third-generation family business, which was rebranded Littore Family Wines in 2008, supplies wine to Coles, winning the supermarket giant’s Outstanding Service Supplier of the Year award just last month.
Littore Wine Group also distributes wine to countries such as Germany, Mexico, Russia, the United Kingdom, Canada, China and the USA.
Broede Carmody is a former senior SmartCompany reporter. Before this, he was a co-editor of RMIT University’s student magazine Catalyst.
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