ONE of Britain’s top wine merchants, Armit, is to sell a majority stake to a Dutch rival in a deal that values the firm at about £14m, including its debt.

The sale of a 75% holding to Baarsma Wine Group will provide a windfall for Armit’s private investors, who include luminaries such as Sir Stuart Rose, executive chairman of Marks & Spencer, and Michael Spencer, chief executive and founder of City broking firm Icap.

The stake sale, which could be announced as early as tomorrow, will see the current management team, led by chairman John Armit and chief executive Ian Ronald, remain in their roles and in control of the remaining 25% of the shares.

As well as offering fine wines to private clients, Armit is a supplier to many of the country’s top hotels and restaurants including the Dorchester, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s, and the Savoy Grill.

One insider said that the deal would not affect the day-to-day running of the company. It is hoped that by forging a partnership with Baarsma, Armit will be able to grow further outside the UK, particularly through joint ventures in emerging markets such as Russia and the Far East.

The west London-based business was founded in 1988 by John Armit, who had previously served as the managing director of Corney & Barrow, the wine and restaurant company.

He left there in 1981 to set up a wine investment firm on behalf of high-net-worth individuals. That led to the creation of the business in its current form. The sale of a stake to Baarsma, which has been owned since March last year by the Dutch private-equity firm AAC Capital Partners (previously ABN-Amro Capital) is the latest in a round of corporate activity in the world of wine retailing.

Just a few weeks ago Oddbins, the high-street chain, was sold by its French owner, Castel Freres, to a consortium led by Simon Baile, the son of Nick Baile, the British retailer’s managing director in the 1970s.

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