Bacchus Capital wine investment firm names Mike Jaeger president

Bacchus Capital Management LLC, a San Francisco investment firm specializing in mezzanine and private-equity wine industry investments, last week named Mike Jaeger as president and COO, reuniting him with former Joseph E. Seagram boss Sam Bronfman.

Jaeger, a former wine and spirits executive with Constellation Brands, Vincor International and Partida Tequila, started April 7, according to a company spokeswoman. He's responsible for evaluating potential transactions, overseeing the performance of portfolio wineries and managing research, investment and marketing teams, officials said.

Most recently he was president and COO of Partida Tequila. Previously, he was president of the U.S. wine business for Vincor International and group president of Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ), where he was responsible for its largest wine division, representing more than $500 million in annual sales.

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Jaeger began his wine industry career at Seagram, where he first worked with Bronfman, then the president of Seagram Chateau and Estate Wines.

Bacchus Capital Management was started last year by Bronfman along with Peter Kaufman and Henry Owsley, the founding partners of Gordian Group LLC, a New York City-based investment bank specializing in the financial restructuring sector.

Bronfman told the San Francisco Business Times that Bacchus Capital Management "is looking to assist wineries and wine companies in their financial needs, and can also offer "value-added" advice, given his and Jaeger's considerable industry experience. He expects the three main uses for its capital to be:

• Growth capital, which may be hard to come by from other financial sources in the current credit-crunch environment.
• "Traditional mezzanine" financing uses, such as acquisitions.
• Inter-generational, inter-family estate planning, such as helping a family-owned winery divvy up capital if one heir wants to continue running the winery and another wants liquid capital.

Bronfman declined to say how much money is under Bacchus Capital's management.