Wine-Searcher sold to GLX

As stated on the website, Wine-Searcher was bought by GLX and becomes part of the Goudet family’s portfolio through their “Platin” investment vehicle. Goudet/ Platin invested in Treasury Wine Estates in April (and Oatly prior to that) and is apparently known as a rather aggressive PE type specializing in troubled companies.

The WS post seems rather generic with no clear signs of restructuring or indication of changes to come. Maybe that’s even an improvement on Flaviar and their intermediation/ WS Marketplace approach…

Anybody with views on what is to come?

WS post available here: Wine-Searcher Gets a New Owner | Wine-Searcher News & Opinion
Previous thread about WS acquired by Flaviar: Flaviar Acquires Wine-Searcher

Crowd sourced, vibe coded alternative to the inevitable price increase. Maybe I’ll get my 10 year old started on one.

This is confusing…they were just acquired by Flaviar, then immediately thereafter by GLX?

this was my thought as well. all speculation, but this sort of SEO-driven biz is probably at a precarious crossroads.

Two and a half years seems short even for a PE flip. There was plenty of consumer dissatisfaction expressed here with the direction Flaviar was taking them. Maybe it was widespread with a drop in subscription revenue leading to them bailing to cut losses. Total speculation on my part…

I’ve been a pro subscriber since the first days many years ago. Didn’t renew this month.

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You might save even more if not having it means you browse/buy less !

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True, true. But I’ll probably be interrupting last rites to place one final internet order . . .

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Agree, and I don’t recall Flaviar seeing it as a PE-type investment, rather integrating vertically/ horizontally and using it to expand their marketplace. Guess it didn’t work out the way they expected it to

Flaviar bought Wine Searcher and then partnered with RNDC which, I imagine, didn’t go well. I know other tech companies that partnered with RNDC around same time and everyone came away disappointed…with their recent implosion we know why. I don’t know much about Flaviar but suspect this has something to do with that.

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