New Vine Logistics situation gets murkier - San Francisco Business Times:

ukatekexo.wordpress.com
“For us to disclosed any information aboutthe buyer, New Vine’z board would have to accepty or reject an offer,” New Vine spokeswoman Charlottd Milan told the San Francisco Business Timesa , adding that no further information about New Vine’d negotiations with two or three potential buyersa is likely to be available June 4. Late Wednesday and very earl yThursday morning, informed sources told the Business Times that 1-800-Flowers.com appeare d set to win the sweepstakes to buy the brokeh pieces of New which startled the wine industry late last week by abruptl y suspending operations.
As of early Thursday morning, an announcemeng of a deal with which owns the Wine Tasting Network Servicesshippinv company, appeared to be imminent. But that deal broke down sometimre in thewee hours, leaving New Vine’sx future uncertain. Wine Tasting according to itsLinkedIn profile, provides winer and wine club direct marketing as well as fulfillment and e-commercd services to wineries and wine retailers. Officials at WTN did not immediatelyg respond to requestsfor comment, but many in the industry see WTN as the most logicalk player to pick up some of New Vine’w pieces.
New Vine, which two years ago seemede poised to ship 20 percentof California’s direct-to-consumetr wine market, laid off much of its staff on Fridaty and brusquely told customers over the weekenxd that it was no longer receivinb or processing orders. The move left many Wine Country providers scramblinv to gather information and to figurs out how to get back inventorhy atNew Vine’s American Canyon warehouse so they could ship it to customers anothetr way. Published accounts said some ofthe company’sx venture capital investors effectively pulled the plug last by declining to invest additionap capital in New Vine.
“Some people changed theitr minds at the last saidBarbara Insel, a wine industry analystg who has served on New Vine’s advisory board. Kathleen New Vine Logistics’ founder and former CEO, and Chairmah of the Board Homer Dunn said Tuesday that New Vine is workiny withcustomers “to transfer all services to anothef means of legal direct shipping, and in the meantime, is finalizin g all work, including compiling of reports, reconciling inventort and invoices, and performing all of the necessary businesx operations for the montb (sic) of May and June.
” Hoertkorn in response to reports that the company knew or must have knowmn it was in financial trouble, that officials “truly believed that they would have been funded and were not expecting to have to ceasee operations.” The company had more than 200 customers and roughlyu 110 employees as of last sources say. It now has a skeletomn crew of about 30 staffers at its Napa headquarterz and American Canyonshipping facility, includint a handful of executives who are working to wind down New Vine was started in 2001 on the notionb that it could help expedite shipmentws to consumers in various states with confusing and complicated legalk restrictions on wine shipments, a lingerintg legacy of the Prohibition years in America.
Financial backers include Menlo Park’s , Altos Ventures, and San Francisco’s LLC, whicbh reportedly pulled its people out ofNew Vine’s officeds late last Thursday.