Majestic Wine confirms talks to buy Vagabond wine bars

Majestic Wine has confirmed it is in talks to buy the troubled Vagabond wine bar business.

If the deal is confirmed, it could see retailer Majestic move into the hospitality space by acquiring 11 wine bars in London, Birmingham and Gatwick Airport, as well as an urban winery at Battersea Power Station.

Vagabond was founded in 2009 and offers customers more than 100 wines by the glass from self-pour machines.

The group attracted the backing of leisure investor Imbiba, which is listed on Companies House as having significant control of the business.

However, it appointed advisory firm Quantuma to review options for the business earlier this month after struggling with debt built up during the pandemic and the loss of its Heathrow Airport bar this year.

In its most recent publicly available accounts, covering the year to March 27, 2022, Vagabond made a gross profit of £5.2m on revenues of £7.4m.

It is understood Majestic sees both brands as a complimentary fit that could help each other grow.

This could see Majestic expand its customer base via the wine bars while providing Vagabond the opportunity to widen its offering by working with Majestic’s on-trade supply division, Majestic Commercial.

A Majestic spokesperson said: “Majestic can confirm that it is exploring a deal to purchase all or part of the Vagabond Wines business.

“Majestic cannot comment further on ongoing discussions, but we are hopeful of securing a deal.

“Since our acquisition by Fortress Investment Group in 2019, we have invested heavily in our growth plan, opening 16 new shops; hiring many new colleagues; supplying thousands of premium hospitality businesses through our B2B division; and training thousands of colleagues as one of the biggest wine educators in Europe.”

Vagabond has been contacted for comment.

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