The Stock Exchange of Newcastle (NSX) has agreed to provide the infrastructure and operate the secondary market for the wine securities listed by emerging wine trader the Australian Wine Exchange (AWX). According to AWX chief executive Stephen Thompson, this arrangement will offer the ‘lowest possible listing fees to wine producers, reduce our time to market and provide efficient access for all market participants’. AWX works by offering capital to wine producers in return for allocations of future releases. It effectively expects to purchase wine in advance at a discount, the ownership it can then offer as Initial Producer Offerings of wine securities to the clients of stockbrokers and ‘leading wine industry participants’, who can be expected to ‘enjoy convenient access to premium wine at great value with ease of cellaring’. The AWX will provide a trading, settlement, clearing, registry and fulfilment infrastructure for its wine listings and expects to release 110 listings in its first year.
