New Vine Files Chapter 7

Developing Story: Just a few days after Amazon confirmed it is pulling out of the wine space, New Vine Inc has filed bankruptcy under IBG's structure of controlling the secured debt, according to a Dun and Bradstreet advisory.

The bankruptcy was filed on October 23 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Rosa (#09-13513) and has been assigned to Judge Alan Jaroslovsky. The filing lists liabilities of about $7 million and no assets.

In a statement released today by Inertia Beverage Group, the company stated: "Inertia Beverage Group was not involved in the bankruptcy filing of New Vine, as reported today in a variety of media outlets. That filing was initiated by the old New Vine Corporation, which remained a separate business entity after IBG acquired substantially all of its assets in a properly constructed and executed foreclosure auction in July. Our understanding is that the filing is a normal course of action any company winding down its existence would take.

“IBG has now fully integrated the recently acquired New Vine assets into the IBG company structure, resulting in the wine industry’s only fully integrated marketplace solution. In addition, the company has had the most successful period in its history for bringing new clients onboard, with over 40 new fulfillment and ecommerce clients joining our platform since integration.”

In July, Inertia Beverage Group was the winning bidder of a foreclosure auction for various assets owned by New Vine.

In a statement issued by New Vine competitor WTN Services, general manager Chris Edwards said his company has gained market share in both fulfillment services and consumer direct sales. WTN Services is a division of 1800Flowers. "I am not surprised by the actions of this bankruptcy filing. We predicted this as the natural course of events given the debt load New Vine was carrying. The timing is interesting immediately following the announcement by Amazon that they were pulling out of New Vine and the wine category for the time being," Edwards said.

"We are sad to see the continued progression of cleaning up the legacy issues at New Vine but want to reassure the industry that there are financially strong and growing partners committed to this industry,” Edwards said.