Nearly two months after filing for bankruptcy, major wine corporation Vintage Wine Estates has agreed to sell most of its California wineries.

Napa Valley’s Clos Pegase and Girard, and Sonoma County’s B.R. Cohn and Kunde are among more than 20 U.S. wineries and brands that were bid on through bankruptcy proceedings, which included an auction on Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Delaware.

The assets, , which won’t cover all of the company’s debts, were largely split between two major buyers, both billionaires: serial winery buyer Bill Foley and A. Jayson Adair, the CEO of online car auction company Copart, court filings show.

The bankruptcy court still needs to grant final approval to the successful bids. A Primary Sale Hearing is scheduled for Sept. 27.

Vintage Wine Estates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 24, citing over $400 million in liabilities. Founded in 2009 by former CEO Pat Roney, the company quickly amassed over 30 wine and spirits brands and eventually produced 2 million cases of wine per year. Vintage went public in June 2021, but its stock dropped 40% the next year due to inventory issues and never recovered, dipping in value to under $1 in 2023. In the last year, the company, which at the time of the bankruptcy filing had more than 400 employees, had multiple rounds of layoffs.

The day after the bankruptcy announcement, Vintage filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice with California authorities, which detailed its plans to eliminate 377 positions across four Bay Area counties. It’s possible new owners could maintain some of those jobs.

With final approval, Bill Foley’s Foley Family Wines will acquire five wineries and brands from Vintage — Calistoga’s Swanson Vineyards, Bodega Bay’s Sonoma Coast Vineyards, Napa’s Cosentino and the Cherry Pie and Bar Dog brands — for $15 million, according to court filings. (While the Swanson and Sonoma Coast deals include tasting rooms, Cosentino’s tasting room was sold separately to vintner Brion Wise.) Foley’s offer was a stalking horse bid, which sets the threshold for bidding in a bankruptcy case. It appears that no higher bids were submitted, as these assets were not included in Tuesday’s auction.

Adair’s company Adair Winery Inc. has agreed to purchase Calistoga’s Clos Pegase and Girard, Kenwood’s B.R. Cohn and Kunde and Sonoma’s Viansa for $85 million, court filings show.

Ace Cider founder Jeffrey House was unsuccessful in his attempt to buy back the Sebastopol cider company he launched in 1993 and sold to Vintage in 2021 for a reported $47.4 million. House initially submitted a $3.6 million stalking horse bid in partnership with equity funder Playa Capital Partnersand went up to $7.2 million, but was ultimately outbid by two companies, according to court filings. Cider Leasing, LLC & Ace Cider I, LLC won the rights to purchase Ace for more than double House’s initial offer: $7.6 million. Cider Leasing is owned by Mordechai Lipton, the president of R.L. Lipton, an Ohio-based alcohol distribution company. House told the Chronicle that his intention was “to protect the legacy of the brand” that he built.

Court filings show that investment firm founder Ejnar Knudsen was the successful bidder for Vintage’s Laetitia Vineyard & Winery in San Luis Obispo County, Washington’s Owen Roe and two others for $9.3 million. Layer Cake, a value-priced brand founded by noted Napa vintner Jayson Woodbridge, is folded into a multi-brand deal from South Carolina company Vino.com.

Other successful bidders on Vintage’s assets are wine and spirits portfolio Integrated Beverage Group; contract distiller Bartow Ethanol of Florida; and brand acquisition and management firm Full – Glass Licensing. HTML to PDF