Societe Jacques Bollinger invests further in Bordeaux Index
The Bordeaux Index Team
20 May 2022
Societe Jacques Bollinger (“SJB”), the Family Group behind a portfolio of wines and spirits including Bollinger Champagne, has increased its minority stake in Bordeaux Index, the leading global seller of fine wine and premium spirits, which is chaired by ICAP and NEX founder Lord Spencer of Alresford.
The new capital will primarily fund further expansion of Bordeaux Index’s online wine trading platform, LiveTrade, which saw its activity rise by c.55% in 2021. SJB will continue to benefit from increased exposure to Bordeaux Index’s unique knowledge and understanding of the global fine wine market and its end customers.
SJB’s investment comes at a time when the fine wine market is continuing to see extremely strong activity globally, with trading volumes and market prices again seeing significant year-on-year gains, as high-net-worth consumers seek out these luxury goods.
Etienne Bizot, Chairman and CEO of SJB, commented:
“We are delighted to build on our successful partnership with Bordeaux Index. The company is on an exciting growth trajectory and we believe that there is still far more to come as technology continues to accelerate the growth of the fine wine and premium spirits markets. This remains a long-term strategic move – it allows us to continue to better understand the fine wine and premium spirits markets and in particular the underlying consumer dynamics, which is increasingly important to our family’s business as a driver of future growth.”
Gary Boom, CEO of Bordeaux Index, added:
“We are thrilled that SJB have decided to invest further into Bordeaux Index. We have long been committed to changing the fine wine market and this investment will allow us to continue to grow and expand our LiveTrade online platform, which is the key driver of the particularly strong performance we have been seeing.”
He continues: “Bordeaux Index continues to expand its global activity through combining traditional expert merchant activity with the huge benefits which come from re-inventing the wine space through trading technology, and we are very ambitious in what we can achieve from here.”
About SJB:
SJB is one of the last remaining 100% family-owned groups in the French wine industry. Founded in 1829 around the house of Champagne Bollinger, SJB now also owns Champagne Ayala, Chanson Père & Fils in Burgundy, Langlois-Chateau in the Loire Valley, Delamain in Cognac and Ponzi Vineyards in Oregon. SJB also owns two distribution companies to cover the UK market (Mentzendorff) and the French market (BLD France).
About Bordeaux Index:
Established in 1997 by Gary Boom, Bordeaux Index has grown to become a leading global merchant for fine wine collectors and investors. Supported by engaged founding partners and shareholders, Bordeaux Index provides expert and enlightening advice to collector clients, while simultaneously opening up the world of wine and spirits to be a rewarding alternative investment space for a broad global audience. The company caters to collectors and investors globally, with offices in London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Miami and Los Angeles.
Increasing market access has always been central to the business and led to Bordeaux Index launching LiveTrade, a unique two-way online trading platform that grants all participants in the fine wine market access to top wines with both a bid and an offer price 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As the only provider of its kind, LiveTrade combines transparent pricing with guaranteed market liquidity and no fees. LiveTrade has won the industry “Best Online Wine Trading Platform” award for the last two years and been described in the media variously as “a game changer”, an “addictive online wine trading platform” and its disruptive influence referenced in a comparison as the “Uber of the fine wine market”.