Lion Nathan Acquires USA Wine Import Company

Monday June 3rd, 2008 [Sydney, Australia]: Lion Nathan has acquired the USA wine importer Cumulus Wine Inc. (CWI), a subsidiary of the New South Wales based Cumulus Group, establishing a new wine import company Lion Nathan USA Inc, thereby guaranteeing a platform for Lion Nathan’s Australian and New Zealand premium wine portfolio in the USA market.

Lion Nathan USA will import Lion Nathan’s Australian and New Zealand wine brands, including Petaluma, St Hallett and Wither Hills, as well as Cumulus brands Rolling, Climbing and Phillip Shaw Wines from the existing CWI portfolio, for distribution in the world’s largest wine market.

Lion Nathan Wine Group Managing Director, Anthony Roberts says, “We are very excited about Lion Nathan USA. Our strategic objective is to establish the best possible route to market for our wine brands. By establishing Lion Nathan USA we can tap into the proven skills of the CWI USA sales team and create an Australasian focussed portfolio of premium regional fine wines. The USA team have extensive customer relationships gained through years of experience working with Australian wines.”

Based in Overland Park, Kansas, Lion Nathan USA’s dedicated sales force will be led by President, Ron Mertz, and will service 73 state based distributors across 50 US states.

An agreement has been reached with current USA distributor, Constellation Brands, for the Lion Nathan Australia and New Zealand wine portfolio to move to Lion Nathan USA within the month.


Inquiries to:
US Media
Ron Mertz
President
Lion Nathan USA
Overland Park, Kansas, USA
Phone: (913) 338-4433 (ext. 100)
Mobile: (913) 449-8483
Email: Ron.Mertz@lion-nathan.com



Investors
Caroline Veitch
Investor Relations Director
Lion Nathan Limited
Sydney, Australia
Phone: +61 2 9290 6650
Mobile: +61 (0) 404 447681
Email: caroline.veitch@lion-nathan.com.au

Notes to editors:

Lion Nathan Wine Group produces some of the world’s finest wines from its wineries in South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia and New Zealand. It also owns the Argyle Winery in Oregon, USA.

USA wine import company Cumulus Wine Inc (CWI) is a subsidiary of the Cumulus Group based in Orange, NSW, Australia. The USA CWI team of ten is led by President, Ron Mertz. CWI imports Cumulus brands Rolling and Climbing from Orange, New South Wales as well as Phillip Shaw Wines, Block 50, Five Friends and Anthropology.

With the formation of Lion Nathan USA, the company will distribute Australian wines from Petaluma, St Hallett, Stonier, Tatachilla, Mitchelton and Knappstein along with Rolling, Climbing, Phillip Shaw Wines, Five Friends, Block 50 and Anthropology from the existing CWI portfolio. Wines from Lion Nathan’s New Zealand based Wither Hills winery will also form part of the portfolio.

Wines from Argyle winery in Oregon will continue to be distributed in the US market by Terlato Wines International.