Yesterday, shares of ChaloneWine Group
The agreement includes a provision that states that should a better offer come across Chalone's desk between now and the time the deal closes -- it's expected to do so sometime in Q1 -- then Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) will either match or approve the competing offer. All told, Chalone investors stand to do a good bit better than they would have if management had accepted the $9.25-per-share, no-dividend offer that DBR made in May.
One detail contained in the deal is especially interesting given recent news. Constellation Brands
All told, there's a lot of jockeying going on in the wine business as the various players set themselves up for what they hope will be very good times. The growing interest in more affordable wines, which Mondavi intended to focus on before Constellation showed up, is widely taken as an indicator of what might lie ahead. Whatever the case in the long term, investors who have watched this sector closely have had the opportunity to make some good short-term cash.
Fool contributor Dave Marino-Nachison doesn't own any of the companies in this story.