Fine & Rare for sale

London merchant Fine & Rare is on the market for £35-£40 million. The 6 year old company is said to be in sound financial shape with turnover expected to double in 2010. It's main growth area is UK private customers.

The CEO said ‘The shareholders decided it was a good time to get a return on our investment in the business.’

Fine & Rare mainly offers a brokerage service, although it has between £2.5-3m stock for immediate delivery.

The founders said they were ‘still fully committed to the business’ and would expect to stay on after the sale.

This comes as UK drinks retailer Wine Rack has risen from the ashes of the collapsed Thresher empire to expand the business with four new stores opening in the past few weeks.

The Wine Rack brand and 13 stores in the London area were bought by a subsidiary of Venus Wine & Spirit Merchants last December following the collapse of the Thresher retail empire.