The FINANCIAL — Archil Gegenava and Giorgi Zhordania, who together owned 13,432,215 shares, or approximately 25.1% equity interest in Teliani Valley, one of the leading wineries in Georgia, , have sold all their shares to JSC Nikora.
The company does not expect any significant strategy and/or management changes in the company following the transaction. The company’s ownership structure is as follows:
New board members are expected to be elected at the upcoming Annual General Meeting of the shareholders so that the changed composition of the shareholders is duly reflected.
Nikora is the leading food processor in Georgia and the operator of the largest food retail footprint in the country with 71 stores. Building upon its strength as the undisputed leader of the processed meat market with approximately 45% market share and the retail clout, Nikora has started filling up the distribution chain with additional businesses in the areas such as: dairy products and ice cream, semi-finished products, fish products, confectionary, soft beverages, wine and imports and distribution of third-party products.
“We welcome Nikora as the new shareholder in Teliani Valley. Partnership with one of the most sophisticated players on the Georgian food processing and retail market opens new and interesting growth opportunities for the company. Archil Gegenava has been instrumental in establishing Teliani Valley in its present form, turning the company into the leading wine producer and distributor of beverages in Georgia.
As Mr. Gegenava was elected to the Georgian Parliament in May 2008, he resigned from the board and played no active role in the management of Teliani Valley. We would like to thank Archil for his contribution to the company and wish him every success in his career”, commented Eli Enoch, member of the Supervisory Board and the CEO of JSC Liberty Consumer.
In July 2008 Teliani Valley acquired a 19.96% equity interest in JSC Telavi Wine Cellar, a leading winery in Georgia.
As at September 30, 2008, the company’s financial debt stood at GEL 6.69 million, which comprised GEL 1.62 million in long-term loans and GEL 5.08 million in credit lines.
“Q3 2008 was the toughest quarter in the relatively short corporate history of Teliani Valley, as the world economic crisis combined with the August 2008 conflict with Russia significantly affected our company’s operations”, commented Q3 2008 results Giorgi Chubinishvili, the Chairman of Teliani Valley’s Supervisory Board.
In 9m 2008, Teliani Valley’s Net Income equaled GEL 0.36 million, down 20% y-o-y.
According to the 2008 statistics, Teliani Valley exports 35% of its production to the Russian market.
“This will be a huge blow for us, but it will have even graver results for the country, since 89% of Georgian [wine] export goes to Russia. It means that there are companies which sell 100% of their production in Russia and this is a catastrophe for them,” Archil Gegenava said.
The Georgian authorities and wine producing companies are urging the Russian side to intensify their fight against falsified Georgian products, mainly wine and mineral waters, on the Russian market.
Archil Gegenava working experience
04/1996 – 04/1997 – Senior Specialist, Economist of Currency Office, Nadzaladevi Branch of Bank of Georgia.
04/1997 – 07/1998 – Deputy-director, Senior Economist of Credit Department, Head Office of Bank of Georgia.
07/1998 – 04/2001 – Head of Vake Branch of Bank of Georgia.
04/2001 – 12/2002 – Head of Central Branch of Bank of Georgia.
12/2002 – 07/2004 – Deputy-director General, Bank of Georgia.
06/2008 – Member of Parliament of Georgia
2004 –2005 – Chairman of Supervisor Board of JS "Teliani Veli".
2007 – 2008 – Chairman of Supervisor Board, JS "Hotels and Restaurants Management Group – m/group"
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