ITALY – Campari Group has signed an agreement with Tannico S.p.A., an Italian e-commerce platform for wines and premium spirits to acquire a 49% stake in the retailer in a transaction valued at €23.4 million, enhancing the spirits company’s digital capabilities.
Under the agreement, the Milan-headquartered beverage company will acquire 39% of the share capital of Tannico and that of subscribes to a reserved capital increase to reach a total of 49% shareholding in the firm.
Tannico was founded in 2013 and has emerged as one of the market leader in online sales of wines and premium spirits in Italy, with a market share of over 30%. In the last 12 months alone, the company registered over 7 million unique visitors and achieved net sales of €20.6 million in 2019.
Tannico’s offering comprises 14,000 wines from over 2,500 domestic and international wineries and other high-end spirits.
Leveraging an unconventional communication approach for the wine industry, an advanced technology applied to online sales and an innovative digital marketing strategy, Tannico has also progressively expanded into the B2B market.
The retailer has evolved its portfolio to offer professional operators with relevant value-added services in areas such as assortment and warehouse management as well as tailored delivery solutions.
The company has managed to attain CAGR in net sales for the past three years (2016-2019) of approximately 50% and such trend grew significantly in Q1 2020, due to the COVID-19 emergency, approximately reaching break-even from a profitability standpoint.
Since 2017, Tannico has also expanded its footprint to more than 20 markets, including USA, Germany, UK, and France.
Commenting on the proposed investment, Bob Kunze-Concewitz, CEO of Campari Group said that “being an essential part of our digital transformation journey, e-commerce is a strategically relevant channel for our business.”
“In this respect, Tannico, leading e-commerce platform for wines and premium spirits in Italy, represents a unique and strategic fit with our long-term business development goals,” Bob added.
The Aperol, Campari and SKYY, brands owner seeks to leverage Tannico’s expertise to accelerate its development plans in e-commerce, an already growing channel, but set to become even more strategic following the likely long-lasting changing consumer behaviours due to the COVID-19 emergency.
“Moreover, with our support, Tannico will be able to strongly accelerate its international development and the B2B services, further boosting its already extremely remarkable growth,” Bob added.
Marco Magnocavallo, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Tannico, commented: “In this moment, as consumers largely evolve in their purchasing behaviors getting increasingly closer to the online world, it is essential for Tannico to have the necessary resources to accelerate its development, without sacrificing the curation that characterizes us.
“With Campari Group, we have found an ideal partner who can support us in consolidating our leadership in the Italian market as well as significantly expanding our business abroad and in the B2B channel.”
The transaction is expected to close by end of July 2020. Pursuant to the investment agreement, Campari Group revealed that it will have the possibility to fully acquire Tannico in the near future, based on certain conditions.
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