Bar the mopping up, Southcorp is dead; long live Foster’s. 22.6 million Southcorp shares changed hands yesterday which was enough to take Foster’s across the 90% line. Any renegade Southcorp shareholders now have to sell their shares and have been given until 3 June before Foster’s will commence compulsory acquisition.

Having established his credentials as the shining knight on a white charger, Foster’s CEO Trevor O’Hoy launched into jargon: “This is the most strategically compelling deal we have seen going around over many years and it delivers in spate on two of our market facing strategies. Firstly to become category leader in global premium wine, it’s very, very difficult to put an absolute value on that.”

Read more on the wine industry in The Key Report.