Champagne buys Loxton Winery

Champagne Indage Limited (CIL), India’s oldest wine making company, on Saturday, announced acquisition of Australian Vintage’s Loxton winery in an all cash transaction for 60 million Australian dollars (Rs 225 crore). The deal is set to be completed over the next six months, the company said in a release.
The acquisition of the winery will increase the total production capacity from 32 million litres (3.5 million cases) to 122 million litres (13.5 million cases) per year. Loxton winery, situated in Riverland, South Australia is the fifth largest and the most modern winery in Australia.
It will allow CIL to enter wider price points within Australia as well as major markets of Australian wine such as the UK, Europe, US and India.
According to Champagne Indage Managing Director Ranjit S Chougule, with an existing market share of 75 per cent, the purchase of Loxton is meant to be a part of the company’s larger strategy of going global. 

Coffee growers get Govt relief

The Centre  has announced a package of Rs 310 crore under the 11th plan for coffee growers who were reeling under the impact of low yield, Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said in Bangalore on Saturday. 
The package includes re-plantation of coffee crop at a cost of Rs 100 crore in the traditional coffee growing regions of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, said the Minister. The package has been cleared by the Cabinet on March 13.