Foley Advises Vintage Wine Estates as VWE Goes Public in De-SPAC Merger with Bespoke Capital Acquisition Corp.

Foley & Lardner LLP represented and advised Vintage Wine Estates, a fast-growing U.S. wine producer with an industry-leading direct-to-consumer platform, in its De-SPAC merger with Bespoke Capital Acquisition Corp., a Canadian SPAC.

The transaction, which closed on June 7, 2021, resulted in the combined company being renamed “Vintage Wine Estates, Inc.” At the opening of trading on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, its common stock began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the new ticker symbol “VWE.” CEO Pat Roney and President Terry Wheatley rang the closing bell on Nasdaq that day.

In connection with the De-SPAC merger and a related PIPE investment, Vintage Wine Estates received approximately $306 million in cash proceeds. The funds received by the company are expected to be used to expand and accelerate its proven growth strategy, driven by a combination of acquisition-led and organic growth, across a well-balanced omni-channel model. At closing, the company had 60,461,611 shares outstanding, representing a market capitalization of $617.9 million based on the June 4, 2021 closing share price of $10.22.

Foley acted as U.S. counsel for Vintage Wine Estates. The Foley team was led by partner Patrick Daugherty and included partners Carrie Long and Dovi Adlerstein, of counsel Josh Agen, and associates Mike Bresnahan, Chris Boll and Leslie Pinney.