The fate of historic Anchor Brewing is expected to be determined by the end of January when the winning bids in the auctions for the nearly 130-year-old brewery’s brand and equipment are to be selected, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
There are “multiple bids” “under review,” and owner Sapporo is expected to select winners by the end of the month, spokesperson Sam Singer told the Chronicle. The sale would close in the first quarter of the year.
Up for auction either together or individually are Anchor’s brand and intellectual property, its real estate in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, and the brewery’s equipment, with annual capacity of 1.9 million case equivalents, according to Hilco Global, which Sapporo has hired to manage the auction along with management firm SierraConstellation Partners.
“Some people are interested in the intellectual property, the name,” Singer told NBC Bay Area News. “Others are interested in the equipment. Some are interested in the physical property, the brewery itself, and some are bidding for the whole kit and caboodle.”
San Francisco resident Mike Walsh has assembled a group of investors – including former owner Fritz Maytag – to acquire the brewery as a going concern.
“Our goal is to make beer right here,” Walsh told NBC Bay Area News.
Walsh plans to revert to Anchor’s old labels, before the 2021 rebrand that introduced drastically different labels and three new beers: Tropical Hazy IPA, Crisp Pilsner and Little Weekend, a 100-calorie mango golden ale.
“We’d go back to the old labels,” he said. “We would brew here for San Francisco and Northern California. We would significantly change the number of beers that we do brew, maybe four or five total.”
In addition, Walsh hopes to expand on-site food operations and focus on events featuring local musicians and artists.
His goal is to avoid another international corporation owning Anchor, which is credited with ushering in the American craft beer industry after Maytag acquired it in 1965.
“My concern is that Anchor ends up in the hands of a large conglomerate who doesn’t understand San Francisco culture and history, and destroys the brand for good,” Walsh told the Chronicle.
Walsh’s investor team includes Maytag; Tony Foglio, one of the interim owners Maytag sold the brewery to in 2010; former Pete’s Wicked Ale CFO Jim Collins; and private equity investor Robert Sayle, according to the Chronicle.
Foglio and partner Keith Greggor sold Anchor Brewers & Distillers to Sapporo for $85 million 2017.
Other bidders include the Anchor SF Cooperative (ASFC), a group of former Anchor employees who have crowdfunded their efforts led by long-time Anchor brewmaster Dane Volek and packaging lead and union steward Patrick Machel. ASFC has raised more than half a million dollars – $470,681 in equity on WeFunder and $114,748 on GoFundMe – to cover legal and administrative costs.
ASFC’s Plan A is to acquire Anchor intact. Failing that, the group’s Plan B is to acquire IP and brew elsewhere. Read more about both plans in prior Brewbound coverage.