Press Clips: Jeff Sessions Answers Antitrust Questions; Neuweiler Brewery Revitalization Stalls

Sessions Tackles Merger Questions at Confirmation Hearing

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Pressed by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), both of whom serve on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Sen. Jeff Sessions said Tuesday that he would have “no hesitation to enforce antitrust law” as Attorney General.

During a confirmation hearing, the Alabama Republican was asked to respond to questions about how he would regulate mergers and acquisitions and whether he would make “vigorous antitrust enforcement a priority.”

“The antitrust policies of the United States have to be consistent and as clear as possible,” Sessions said.

“I have no hesitation to enforce antitrust law,” he added.

In her line of questioning, Sen. Klobuchar, a co-sponsor of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act and an outspoken critic of the Anheuser-Busch InBev/MillerCoors merger known as “MegaBrew,” called out the beer industry specifically and described the period between 2010 and 2015 as a “merger wave,” noting that tie-ups doubled from 716 to 1,801 during the period.

Marketing Group Struggles to Redevelop Neuweiler Brewery

What began more than three years ago as an ambitious $30 million plan to revitalize the defunct Neuweiler Brewery in Allentown, Penn. is now being recast by the New York marketing firm that owns the property.

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Ruckus Marketing — which purchased the brewery for $1.7 million in 2014 and initially pitched a large-scale contract brewing concept in September 2013 — has made no progress on rehabilitating the property, according to the Morning Call, and is now hoping to convert part of the old brewery into a “co-working” space.

Upon purchasing the property, the marketing firm agreed to invest upwards of $3 million on building improvements that were to be completed by next month. As part of the deal, Allentown Commercial Industrial Development Authority, which had previously owned the building, retained the right to repurchase the property if Ruckus failed to make progress on the buildout.

Ruckus’ initial plans have been revised and the firm has agreed to a new set of conditions, the outlet noted. It will now be required to make “core and shell” improvements to the old bottling house, according to the Morning Call, and pay the Allentown Economic Development Corp more than $50,000 to extend its deadline to August 2018 for completion of that work.

It can also pay the city $100,000 for an additional extension, the outlet said.

Ruckus CEO Josh Wood told the Morning Call that he hopes to begin construction on the “office project” sometime in 2018.

As for the brewery component, Wood said he was hopeful that it would be completed with “six month of the office building opening.”

Alcohol Justice Calls for New California Beer Excise Tax

Alcohol Justice, an Industry watchdog group, is calling upon California lawmakers to introduce a “25 cent per drink” excise tax on beer to “wipe out the state’s projected $1.6 billion budget shortfall.”

In a press release, Alcohol Justice executive director Bruce Lee described the proposed beer tax increase as “common sense, fiscally responsible and long overdue.”

The organization’s central argument for a hike is rising inflation, which, it claims, has led to a 33 percent decrease in “actual” alcohol tax revenue.

Two Roads to Expand at Bradley Airport

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As part of a joint effort between restaurant operator The Michelle Group and Connecticut’s Two Roads Brewing, Bradley International Airport will soon get a “replica” Two Roads brewery taproom this spring, reported ctpost.com.

The new space will “reflect the feel and unique factor setting,” that Two Roads has at its primary brewing outpost in Stratford, Conn., founder Brad Hittle told the outlet.

“It’s not just another mundane tap room,” he said.

New Glarus Inks Deal for Local Glass Bottle Production

Famed Wisconsin craft brewery New Glarus has signed an agreement to purchase all of its bottles from in-state glass manufacturer Ardagh Group, The Journal Times reported.

Ardagh, which operates a 537,000 sq. ft. facility in Burlington, Wisc. and makes about 2 million bottles per day, will supply the brewery with about 42 million bottles annually.

According to the outlet, the new deal will keep approximately $6 million of business in Wisconsin.