Typology and Financial Performance of Champagne Makers According to Distribution Channel

A typology of strategies related to the distribution channels used by Champagne makers is established. Champagne makers' operating profit depends on their distribution network, which affects selling prices. Based on a sample of 20 Champagne makers ("Maisons de Champagne"), economic and financial performance indicators for Champagne makers are analyzed with reference to the type of distribution channel.Champagne, Distribution channel, Strategy, Performance, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

Development in Central Europe Includes Food Processing Business

The economic integration of Central European countries to the EU started in the beginning of the 1990's. ESSEC Business School, in partnership with Warsaw Agricultural University SGGW, and food companies have heavily invested in Central Europe, particularly Poland, before May 1, 2004 the official date of the EU enlargement to 8 Central European Countries: Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia. With more than half the population and business activity of these countries, Poland is the « big » Central European country. Four food industry managers from those countries provide their point of view.Central Europe, Development, Food, Business, Investment, Agribusiness,

VALUATION OF TARGET FIRMS ACQUIRED IN THE FOOD SECTOR DURING THE 1996-2001 WAVE

The paper studies valuation ratios of food companies that were part of mergers & acquisitions (M&A) involving at least one French company during the 1996-2001 period. Results converge to value the food company 1.1 to 1.4 times its turnover. There is no significant difference of "valuation to turnover" ratios among M&A involving only French firms and M&A involving companies from different countries. Corporate valuation may differ according to food sub-sector.Agribusiness,

The Financial Value of Champagne Houses in a Cobweb Economy

The objective of the paper is to simulate the corporate value of Champagne makers by taking into account the Champagne market evolution. These measurements are conducted by linking financial debt, performance and valuation to a vertical coordination model of production-consumption within a cobweb economy. The overall model uses the dynamic structure that underlies the strategic interactions amongst grape producers and wine makers. These segments coordinate grape production and trade by forming expectations about final consumption, price and stock risks. The paper examines the dynamics of the financial cash flows and net worth of Champagne houses for the 1977 – 2003 period using system dynamics (SD) modeling principles. The results presented in this paper report on key financial indicators for that period for financial debt, performance and valuation of Champagne makers. It provides a sound basis to pursue this work, because the model can further enhanced to anticipate the possible value Champagne makers for the coming crucial years since the Champagne appellation has reached its geographical limit determined by the protected designation of origin (PDO), while worldwide demand continues to grow.financial valuation, vertical coordination, cobweb economy, system dynamics, price expectations, Champagne, wine, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization,

Mergers & Acquisitions in the Food Business: How did the 2002 and 2008/2009 Economic Crises Impact Corporate Valuation?

Transaction market multiples are widely used as benchmarks for negotiation between buyers and sellers. This research focuses on financial performance expressed as transaction market multiples of sales, EBITDA and net profit for the 2002-2009 period.The number of transactions declined much more in 2002 than in 2008 and 2009, but the value of transactions displayed the opposite trend. The 2008-2009 economic crisis impacted the valuation of food companies more than the 2002 crisis. Market multiples declined much more in 2009 than in 2002 and 2003.On average, transaction multiples are stable, even though their values on a given year are affected by economic cycles.The EV/EBITDA provides results with smaller spread than EV/ Sales and EV/net profit. The present research shows that valuations of dairy companies are quite close to the average valuations in the food business. But valuations of wines and spirits companies are a lot higher than other food business companies. Transaction market multiples at food subsector level provide more accurate tools to the stakeholders of M&A in order to avoid over-payment and financial distress

Financial Instruments and Conflicts of Interest: Application to French Agricultural Co-operatives

To finance their growth and value creation, agricultural co-operatives have at their disposal several financial instruments: equity, quasi-equity or debt. Many of these instruments are particularly innovative and have been designed specifically for co-operatives. In France, only recently have some co-operatives expanded their types of financing to include external funders through the issue of OTC- or publicly-traded securities.Agricultural co-operatives' governance and economic projects are often misunderstood by external financial investors. The risk of conflicts of interest plays a role in these misunderstandings in the way retained earnings, returns to agricultural products brought by co-op member and returns to equity capital. Such risks are identified and answers are proposed

Financial Instruments and Conflicts of Interest: Application to French Agricultural Co-operatives

To finance their growth and value creation, agricultural co-operatives have at their disposal several financial instruments: equity, quasi-equity or debt. Many of these instruments are particularly innovative and have been designed specifically for co-operatives. In France, only recently have some co-operatives expanded their types of financing to include external funders through the issue of OTC- or publicly-traded securities.Agricultural co-operatives' governance and economic projects are often misunderstood by external financial investors. The risk of conflicts of interest plays a role in these misunderstandings in the way retained earnings, returns to agricultural products brought by co-op member and returns to equity capital. Such risks are identified and answers are proposed

Do Agricultural Commodity Firm Stock Price and Agricultural Commodity Price Move Together?

The research aims at explaining stock performance of processing companies as a function of commodity performance on commodity markets. The results show that stock prices of food companies do not significantly depend on agricultural market prices. So, risks of agricultural market price volatility cannot be hedged using foodfirm stocks, whose markets are more liquid

Solvency and Performance of French Wineries in Times of Declining Sales: Co‐operatives and Corporations

The paper assesses the ability of French wineries to prevail over the crisis of French wine in the years 2000. Corporations are distinguished from co operatives: Over the 2000/2006 period in spite of sales fluctuations, French wineries did not increase their financial debt level substantially. Such result supports the traditional static tradeoff theory (TOT). Cooperatives were able to absorb part of the impact of the wine crisis at the expense of their members, in increasing account payables to member. Corporations have not increased trade account payables to vine growers. In the mid 2000s, the French wine crisis has not been strong enough to shake the financial structure of cooperatives and corporations. But cooperatives look more affected. However, sales of French wines dropped a lot more in 2009 and financial data are not yet available to observe the consequences

The Open Linguistics Working Group: developing the Linguistic Linked Open Data cloud

The Open Linguistics Working Group (OWLG) brings together researchers from various fields of linguistics, natural language processing, and information technology to present and discuss principles, case studies, and best practices for representing, publishing and linking linguistic data collections. A major outcome of our work is the Linguistic Linked Open Data (LLOD) cloud, an LOD (sub-)cloud of linguistic resources, which covers various linguistic databases, lexicons, corpora, terminologies, and metadata repositories. We present and summarize five years of progress on the development of the cloud and of advancements in open data in linguistics, and we describe recent community activities. The paper aims to serve as a guideline to orient and involve researchers with the community and/or Linguistic Linked Open Data