Constellation Brands

Robert Mondavi Corp., the winemaker that is being acquired by Constellation Brands Inc., restated its fiscal first-quarter results Monday, reporting a narrower loss as it eliminated charges related to a planned reorganization. The net loss for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was restated to $12.8 million, or 78 cents a share, the Napa, Calif.-based winemaker said. Mondavi previously reported a net loss of $57.7 million, or $3.47 a share, for the quarter.

Constellation Brands Inc., the world's largest winemaker, sold California's Arrowood and Byron wineries Tuesday to Legacy Estates Group for $40 million as it trims assets after the purchase of Robert Mondavi Corp. The sale includes all inventory, grape contracts and vineyards associated with the Arrowood, Grand Archer, Byron and IO brands, Fairport, N.Y.-based Constellation said. The brands were among those Constellation gained in December in its $1.03-billion purchase of Oakville, Calif.

Constellation Brands Inc. on Thursday said that its fiscal third-quarter profit rose 12%, reflecting the company's December 2004 acquisition of Robert Mondavi Corp. The world's largest winemaker, Constellation forecast fiscal fourth-quarter earnings below analysts' estimates, sending its shares down 4.5%. Net income in the period ended Nov. 30 was $109 million, or 46 cents a share, up from $96.9 million, or 42 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 15% to $1.57 billion.

The Ping-Pong bidding war for Golden State Vintners Inc. escalated as San Francisco-based Wine Group increased its cash offer for the bulk-wine producer to $82 million, topping the latest proposal from a group led by Golden State Chief Executive Jeffrey O'Neill. Wine Group's new offer amounted to $8.25 in cash for each Golden State share, a 3.4% premium over the company's closing stock price Monday of $7.98.

Canandaigua Wine Co. will close its grape concentrate plant in the San Joaquin Valley town of Escalon to focus on making wine, company executives said. Canandaigua spokeswoman Lisa Farrell said its grape concentrate products were facing declining sales. The company will lay off 42 workers and shutter the facility, which is near Modesto. Grape concentrate is used as a sweetener in fruit juices, sport drinks and other products. Canandaigua is a division of New York-based Constellation Brands Inc.

Constellation Brands Inc., which quietly became the world's largest winemaker two years ago, took another step Friday toward challenging a $13.7-billion bid by France's Pernod Ricard for Allied Domecq, the world's No. 2 distiller. Constellation, the only beer, wine and spirits company based in the United States, is teaming up with three partners to try to buy Allied, the British liquor company behind Beefeater gin and Stolichnaya vodka.

Vintner R. Michael Mondavi knows what he wants to put in the bottle -- he's just not sure what he can put on the label. Two years after leaving the family business in a messy internal squabble and subsequent buyout, he has purchased a Napa Valley winery where he plans to produce a high-end Cabernet Sauvignon that would include the famous Mondavi name. One hitch: Constellation Brands Inc., the world's largest wine company, acquired the name when it bought Robert Mondavi Corp. of Oakville, Calif.

A management group that wants to buy bulk wine producer Golden State Vintners Inc. has raised its bid with help from Constellation Brands Inc., the world's largest wine company. The entry of the maker of the Almaden and Vendange labels essentially pits two of the biggest players in the mass-market wine sector against each other. Until Thursday, Golden State looked as if it would be acquired by Wine Group of San Francisco, which owns the Franzia, Corbett Canyon and Glen Ellen brands.

A California wine country landmark changed hands Wednesday as shareholders of the Robert Mondavi Corp. approved a nearly $1.36-billion buyout by New York-based drinks giant Constellation Brands. The deal was approved at a meeting in San Francisco with more than 80% of votes cast by Class A shareholders and 94% of votes cast by Class B shareholders in favor of selling.