Swiss bank UBS is looking for a new owner or investor for family-owned Villa Maria, one of New Zealands biggest wine companies, according to the Australian Financial Review.
A number of interested parties were taking part in an auction, the papers Street Talk column reported.
The column said the most likely buyers included New Zealand wine companies Delegat, owner of the Oyster Bay label, and Indevin New Zealand. An unknown number of Australian private equity funds were also reportedly interested.
The company could be worth more than A$200 million (NZ$212.8 million), although no binding bids had been submitted yet, the AFR reported.
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Swiss bank UBS is reportedly looking for a new owner or investor for Villa Maria.
In November, Villa Maria said it was selling off 31 hectares of land to help fund international expansion. The winery wanted to grow its brand in overseas markets, such as North America and Asia.
It aimed to be one of the worlds great wine companies, chief executive Justin Liddell said at the time.
He said the business, whose wine brands include Villa Maria, Vidal, and Thornbury, was also looking to raise capital from investors, and was working through its options.
