Château d’Agel: Third time lucky?
The case is the fourth is 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 Château 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 €0.8 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.
- Cash flows and working capital management
- Developing a turnaround business plan
- Crisis management
- Aligning vision and incentives between entrepreneur and shareholders
- Managing wine properties
SAS Château d'Agel, Consumer Goods, Wine and Spirits
2003-2020
Cranfield University
Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]
Harvard Business School Publishing
60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]
NUCB Business School
1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]
IMD retains all proprietary interests in its case studies and notes. Without prior written permission, IMD cases and notes may not be reproduced, used, translated, included in books or other publications, distributed in any form or by any means, stored in a database or in other retrieval systems. For additional copyright information related to case studies, please contact Case Services.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
In late 2021, Puneet Chhatwal, CEO of Indian Hotels Company Limited IHCL, found himself grappling with a new challenge beyond the impressive growth numbers the company had achieved since his tenure began in 2017 sustainability. Having led IHCL, t...

When a Saudi consortium led by utilities giant Acwa Power signed $8.3 billion in deals this July to build seven solar and wind projects across the kingdom, it marked more than just another line entry in the country’s growing clean energy portfolio...
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD Brain Circuits 4 September 2025
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD Brain Circuits 26 August 2025
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Case reference: IMD-7-2648 ©2025
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications