Lion Nathan buys wine importer Cumulus

Lion Nathan has bought US wine importer Cumulus Wine Inc (CWI), setting up a channel to sell premium Australian and New Zealand wines into the United States.

Lion Nathan will establish a new wine import company called Lion Nathan USA Inc following the purchase of Cumulus, a subsidiary of the NSW-based company Cumulus Group.

"Our strategic objective is to provide the best possible route to market for our wine brands," Lion Nathan Wine Group managing director Anthony Roberts said.

"By establishing Lion Nathan USA we can tap into the proven skills of the CWI USA sales team and create an Australasian focussed portfolio of premium regional fine wines."

Mr Roberts said US distributor Constellation Brands had already agreed to moving the Lion Nathan wine portfolio to Lion Nathan USA within the next month.

Lion Nathan's new import company will import brands like Petaluma, St Hallett and Wither Hills - as well as Cumulus brands such as Rolling, Climbing and Phillip Shaw Wines, into the US, the world's biggest wine market.

The company, led by Ron Mertz, will be based in Kansas, and service 73 state-based distributors across 50 states, Lion Nathan said.

The price of the acquisition was not disclosed.