Brl Hardy

What are the forces behind BRL Hardy to become a global company?

BRL Hardy is the outcome of the merger of two Australian wine making companies: BRL & Thomas Hardy & Sons. Hardy has a long history in marketing expertise, brands and winemaking know-how, where BRL had access to fruit, funds and a disciplined management. Before the merger both companies suffered form a recession driven market in Australia. BRL was struggling and searching for opportunities to enhance its business. Meanwhile Hardy suffered from a called-in bank loan and was searching for a financial partner. Both companies followed different strategies, but by by merging they would complement each other and thus reinforce themselves to one global company. In order to become a global company and make the merger successful Steve Millar set 3 priorities. First, they had to address their financial problems. Second, the had to integrate the two companies into one entity. Third, they would adopt a new strategy in which they’d focus on the home market (bulk cask) and getting merger efficiencies and afterwards concentrate themselves on branded bottles for sales of growth. Strategy wise Millar wanted to achieve this by adopting a decentralized approach and in that way unlock the potential of company’s middle management.

In General BRL hardy became a global company through a couple of factors. The merger of the two companies made sure they had a much bigger market in which they could sell their wine. BRL Hardy became a company active on a world scale. Banks lend easier money to global firms which resolves the financial problem. By becoming active worldwide, they could decrease the importance and power of a country and shop around to decide where they’ll set up their headquarter (lowest taxes). By becoming a global company, they can benefit from economies of scales and thus bigger profits and can produce on global scale where the production costs are lower. A lot of factors thus contributed to the...