French vineyard to list on AIM, use crowdfunder for IPO

Domaine Chanzy is raising £1.9m and will list the IPO on Seedrs, the UK fundraising platform, in a first for the industry.

A French vineyard is listing on the AIM exchange and will use a crowdfunding platform to help raise the £1.9 million ($2.9 million; €2.5 million) initial public offering.

Burgundy vineyard Domaine Chanzy will conduct the IPO using Seedrs, a UK-based equity crowdfunding platform. The company has also hired WH Ireland, the UK brokerage, to sell shares alongside Seedrs.

The deal will not just produce the first AIM-listed French company, but it will also represent the first IPO to be raised on a crowdfunding platform, according to a press release.

“The transaction is a significant step forward for equity crowdfunding in Europe and opens up the opportunity to participate in IPOs to a much wider range of investors,” reads the release. “Those investors who use Seedrs to invest in the Domaine Chanzy IPO will have their shares held by Seedrs as nominee, meaning that they do not need to establish separate brokerage or trading accounts.”

Shares will be sold for £1.20 each and investors can invest as little as £10 through the Seedrs platform. But investors that buy 1,000 shares and more will be entitled to discounted wines from the vineyard.

The capital raised will go towards expanding the company’s distribution networks and also towards creating a new Burgundy wine brand targeting primarily overseas customers.

France reclaimed its top spot as the biggest wine producer globally in 2014 despite global wine production falling to 271 million hectolitres during the year.