It’s been a big year for Geoff Ross and his Moa Group.
In December, the highly regarded – if, from a stock point of view, perennially underachieving – beer company announced it was buying the restaurant business Savour Group. The company paid $13 million for the group in a mix of cash and shares, and Ross said the sale would triple Moa’s revenue and send it into sustainable profitability.
Funded by a $5.5m bank facility with BNZ and a $3m placement to new and existing shareholders, the move saw Moa take over Savour’s group of bars and restaurants, including Las Vegas, Fukuko, Ostro, Seafarers, Ebisu and Azabu. The company later raised $1.07 million from a rights issue allowing shareholders to provide Moa with additional growth capital, although the total was well below the $2-3m Ross hoped for.
Soon after the announcement stock prices rose to near the 50c mark, although they have since dipped to 38c. The shares were initially offered at $1.25 upon its listing in 2012.
While the company may not have yet turned around seven years of profit-free results just yet, in May it did say it was on track to report a lower annual trading loss this year.
Though the company’s fortunes remain mixed, the quality of Moa’s beer appears to have stayed as reliable as ever. Last September, Moa took out the Champion New Zealand Beer trophy at the New Zealand Beer Awards, winning big on the strength of its Southern Alps White IPA.
Ross made his money through the 42 Below vodka brand, pocketing a handsome sum when it sold to Bacardi for $138 million in 2006. Since then he’s been involved in a range of different investments, though the primary one has been Moa. Last year, his Business Bakery investment company made about $66m when skincare brand Trilogy was sold to Citic Capital China Partners. Business Bakery had previously bought Trilogy in 2010 for $20m.
In 2017, Geoff Ross and his wife Justine sold their Herne Bay mansion for $22 million. Last year they bought an 11,300ha lakefront farm on Lake Hawea for $17.5 million.
2018: $65 million