Conviviality Retail Gets a Re-brand – and Acquires Matthew Clark
Posted on Thu 26th Mar 2015 at 13:38
Conviviality Retail, the drinks behemoth that owns Wine Rack and Bargain Booze, has recently rebranded to simply ‘Conviviality’.
This transformation reflects another landmark event: Conviviality’s £200million acquisition of Matthew Clark. Matthew Clark was founded in 1810 by, surprisingly, Matthew Clark, and was known throughout most of its life as an importer for the City of London. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1990,and shortly after it began acquiring other drinks manufacturers. This brief spell of acquisitions was followed by the company being bought by Constellation Brands Inc, an American company, in 1998. It was then briefly owned by a joint partnership between Accolade Wines, an evolution of Constellation’s European and Australian brands, and Punch Taverns, before being bought by Conviviality. CEO Diana Hunter told Harpers magazine: “Matthew Clark is a significant wholesaler in the drinks industry larger than the next seven independent operators combined, and together with Conviviality this create a unique business that addresses both on-trade and off-trade retailers. “The enlarged group will be independent of major drinks brands, enabling us to supply an unrestricted selection of products to customers who value breadth of range, price and quality. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues into the group and continuing to deliver excellent service to our customer across both businesses.” Hunter is frequently cited as one of the most influential people in the wine world, and this merger is just another indication that Conviviality is a force to be reckoned with. We look forward to seeing what they do next!