Row of wine bottles on a wooden shelf in a wine cellar

Butterfly Equity Completes $1.95 Billion Acquisition of The Duckhorn Portfolio

Jan. 2, 2025

North American wine company will go private and plans to tap into Butterfly’s resources to scale up operations and grow.

Andy Hanacek

Prior to the end of the 2024 calendar year, Butterfly Equity completed its approximately $1.95 billion acquisition of The Duckhorn Portfolio Inc. wine company, according to a release shared by the private equity firm.

The transaction, which was first agreed to in October 2024, was all-cash, valued at $11.10 per share, or approximately $1.95 billion, and it adds Duckhorn to Butterfly’s food and beverage portfolio, which includes such brands and companies as Chosen Foods, MaryRuth Organics, Orgain, Bolthouse Fresh Foods and others.

Deirdre Mahlan, president and CEO of Duckhorn, called the move “excellent news for the future of The Duckhorn Portfolio.” She said that Butterfly gives Duckhorn access to more resources to further scale up operations and write a “new chapter in the story of The Duckhorn Portfolio.”

Duckhorn owns the Duckhorn Vineyards, Decoy, Sonoma-Cutrer and Kosta Browne brands, and was established in 1976. Duckhorn common stock ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange when the deal closed, and it will no longer be listed.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.