Press
In Bordeaux, new shareholders enter the capital of the Joanne trading house
The largest distributor of fine wines in Bordeaux announces the arrival of several new private investors including French entrepreneurs.
“Given the passage of time, I had to look ahead to remove the uncertainties for my teams as well as for the owners who entrust me with their wines every year,” Pierre-Antoine Castéja told us. By deciding to widen Joanne’s shareholding to a new circle of private entrepreneurs, the president of the Bordeaux wine merchant did not fail to create a surprise.
Although the family’s winegrowing history goes back to the beginning of the 17th century, it was in 1862 that Paul Joanne created the famous wine merchant house, which is now owned by the descendants of the Castéja branch (as well as Château Doisy-Védrines, a Sauternes Grand Cru Classé). Located in Carignan-de-Bordeaux, Joanne’s imposing buildings can accommodate no less than 5 million bottles, the vast majority of which are Bordeaux grands crus, but also a very specialised selection of the world’s greatest foreign wines, from Australia to Argentina, via Italy and the United States. This is an ambitious challenge that reinforces a strategy of opening up to the international market.
The house, which will celebrate its 160th anniversary this year and claims to have always wanted to remain faithful to a family spirit, has nevertheless decided to open its capital to new shareholders: Claude Bébéar, founder of AXA, Norbert Dentressangle, creator of the XPO Logistics transport group, the Philippe Donnet family, who are presidents of the Italian insurer Generali, and finally Hugues Lechanoine. The latter, 52 years old and former boss of Baron Philippe de Rothschild for 17 years, has been appointed to gradually take over the management of the company. Pierre-Antoine Castéja – who will remain as chairman – and the four new shareholders will hold the majority of the company, while the management team will also take a stake in the capital, along with some other minority shareholders.
Pierre-Antoine Castéja, anxious to remain faithful to the values of the company, explains: “I did not want to have a dominant family – it is a form of fragility. We were looking for people who are committed to keeping all the teams, entrepreneurs, rather families, who love wine, profiles with different but converging experiences, especially in logistics, digital, with contributions in know-how, and not only in capital.
This is a major announcement for the sector, which comes at a key moment of the year, with the start of the 2021 primeur campaign, and which appears to be a strong signal for the market: “This is the first significant investment by entrepreneurs in the Bordeaux wine trade. It is an act of faith in the trade and in the place of Bordeaux”.
