Australian Vintage appoints CEO

By Andrew Starke

Australian Vintage has appointed Neil McGuigan as a director and named him as CEO effective immediately.

McGuigan was previously the wine company’s GM of production and supply before being appointed interim CEO in late March after Dane Hudson stepped down from the position.

Australian Vintage chairman, Ian Ferrier, said McGuigan’s involvement in the wine industry over the past 30 years made him an ideal candidate for the CEO position.

“While the Australian wine industry continues to go through challenging times, we remain focused on managing our costs, cash flow and balance sheet, whilst at the same time continuing to produce great wines and build brands that consumers around the world recognise and prefer,” said McGuigan.

Australian Vintage ended merger talks with Constellation Brands in April after failing to agree on the balance of power within a combined entity.

AVG shares were trading at 26c at midday today (Jul 23), up from 21c seven days ago.

[Fri 23/07/2010 12:17:13]