By Professor Benoit F. LeleuxBenoit F. Leleux, Franck Adraï, Elvis Fontaine and Javier Sanchez Castro
The case is the fourth in a case series documenting the genesis, deal engineering, early implementation and then mounting operational challenges faced by Robin Budowski as he acquired and tried to turn around Chateau d'Agel, a vineyard located in the Minervois region of Languedoc, going from ideation to execution, stagnation and deep crisis. The key protagonist has to decide which plan he will present to the upcoming critical shareholders' meeting. Chateau d'Agel was acquired in 2003, for EUR0.8 million. After years of below par performances, sales dropped drastically in 2017 while capital expenditures exploded, generating critical financial issues. The vineyard manager was replaced and Robin took full operational control to manage the turnaround, cutting costs and investments.
Part of THE CHÂTEAU D’AGEL CASE SERIES (2003-2020)
Learning Objective
- Cash flows and working capital management.
- Developing a turnaround business plan; strategic analysis; leadership and HR management; crisis management; marketing and sales development.
- Aligning vision and incentives between entrepreneur and shareholders.
- Managing wine properties; growth management; pivoting strategy; managing affinity investor.
