FREE! Subscribe to News Fetch, THE daily wine industry briefing - Click Here


Sponsored by:
Banner_Xpur_160x600---Wine-Industry-Insight[63]
InnoVint_WII_ad_portrait

Duckhorn Buys Rack And Riddle Real Estate From Entertainment Properties Trust

August 7, 2013 | Filed under Featured Articles | Posted by

Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE: EPR) has sold to the Duckhorn Wine Company, the Hopland real estate it bought in 2007 as part of a sale/leaseback arrangement with Rack and Riddle Custom Crush.

This according to multiple sources including those at EPR, and clients of Rack and Riddle.

No sale price was available, but EPR bought the real estate for approximately $26 million.

According to EPR’s SEC filings, the facility had 76,000 square feet of building space and approximately 35 acres of land when acquired.

The  troubled Real Estate Investment Trust has been itching to get out of its wine investments for at least three years and has lost an estimated $130 million (Losses Near $130 Mil For Big REIT’s Wine Investments)

The Mendocino County Recorder’s Office listing currently shows 46.5 acres for the real estate. Sources say the building space has also been enlarged since EPR’s purchase, but no specific number was available.

All of EPR’s recently divested properties have gone for amounts near the selling price, but this one may show a better profit because of improvements made to the assets in the past five years.

The company was co-founded in 2007 by Rebecca Faust and Bruce Lundquist who kept the business but sold the underlying real estate to EPR  in May of that year.

Faust and Lundquist were contacted, but did not respond. However, sources say they will continue to own and operate the custom crush business and service Rack and Riddle clients, only with a new landlord.

Sources say that Rack & Riddle has approximately 100 clients, but that one of them — the sparkling wine operation of Remy Cointreau — has been about 60% of their revenues. It is anticipated that Duckhorn will replace some of the Remy business.

EPR STILL TRYING TO SELL OTHER PROPERTIES

According to EPR’s July 29, 2013 8-K filing with the SEC, they still owned the following properties for sale:

  • Clements Vineyard & Winery, Linden CA
  • Lockeford Vineyard & Winery, Lockeford CA,
  • Pope Valley Vineyard & Winery, St. Helena CA,
  • Covey Run Winery, Sunnyside, WA, Gallo Winery
  • Rack & Riddle Custom Crush, Hopland CA (listed in the 8-K even though a sale was pending at the time)

Gallo is leasing the Sunnyside real estate.

PREVIOUS ORIGINAL WINE INDUSTRY INSIGHT COVERAGE

ENTERTAINMENT PROPERTIES TRUST

PREVIOUS CARNEROS VINTNERS COVERAGE

HAVENS WINE CELLARS (UNDER BILLINGTON MANAGEMENT)

COSENTINO WINERY (UNDER SOLDINGER MANAGEMENT)

EOS ESTATE

ASCENTIA WINE ESTATES