Biggest fund manager in world buys vineyard stake

investment was part of £18.5m raised through a new share offering in December.

A subsequent share offer has since taken the total raised to £20m.

The investment giant was the only new investor in last year’s fundraising.

The other notable backer was IPGl, the family office of Michael Spencer, the founder and chief executive of NEX Group, which already had a stake in Chapel Down before the share offer.

Founded in 1988, BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager, with $5.7trn (£4.2trn) of assets under management.

It has 135 investment teams in 30 countries, with its major investments including AstraZeneca, British American Tobacco, GlaxoSmithKline and Royal Dutch Shell.

Its interest is a coup for Chapel Down, which has seen its market value grow to £106m after being stocked at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and becoming the wine supplier to No.10 Downing Street.

As well as its vineyards in Tenterden, Blue Bell Hill and the Weald, it has also developed its own beer and cider, with plans to open a brewery in Ashford in November. It launched a gin and vodka late last year.

Chief executive Frazer Thompson said: “The investment is a really exciting development.

“We are truly humbled to have attracted funds from such an admired and enormously successful global institution.

“They saw what I see every day. We have great products. We have great people.

“It is a testament to just how far this team has come and how far it can go.”

BlackRock was approached for comment. A

Chapel Down boss Frazer Thompson