Henkell & Co-owned Copestick Murray and Freixenet UK have announced they will merge to form one company as of January 2019.
Called Freixenet-Copestick, the firm will be jointly led by Damian Clarke, current managing director of Freixenet UK, and Robin Copestick, managing director and joint founder of Copestick Murray.
The plan is for both companies will move into a standalone office in Newbury, Berkshire. Freixenet-Copestick will also open a separate company in the Republic of Ireland to manage its business in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
The announcement follows the news earlier this year that Henkell bought 50.7% of Grupo Freixenet for just under €220 million.
It is expected that Freixenet-Copestick will have a turnover of over £100 million in 2019 and hoped that it will become the number one branded supplier of sparkling wine in the UK by both volume and value.
The core brands for the combined company will be Freixenet, I Heart Wines and Mionetto, which will represent around 60% of the company’s turnover.
Both companies have drawn attention to a strong pipeline of new product development and increased investment behind flagship brands.
Damian Clarke said: “It’s great to have this opportunity to join with another rapidly growing UK wine business. Copestick Murray has complementary skills to Freixenet but shares our approach of putting the consumer at the heart of what we do.
“Our combined business will be a leader in the sparkling wine category and with the resources and backing of Henkell and Freixenet we are well placed to continue driving category growth.”
Robin Copestick added: “I am incredibly excited and honoured to be working with the Freixenet brand again. My first job in London was selling Cordon Negro for Moreno Wines in the 1980’s, so my life has now gone full circle.
“The Freixenet brand and the excellence of the Freixenet team will be a great addition to what we have achieved at Copestick Murray. The future is looking very bright.”
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