Sapporo’s $165 million acquisition of Stone Brewing officially closed Wednesday, August 31, giving the Japanese beer maker one of the top 10 craft breweries by volume in the U.S. in 2021 and the 18th largest brewing operation overall.
Sapporo, Japan’s oldest beer brand having been founded in 1876, will now begin integrating operations with the San Diego craft brewery and transferring production of Sapporo’s beers for the U.S. market to facilities in Escondido, California, and Richmond, Virginia.
In announcing the close of the transaction, first announced on June 24, Sapporo noted that Stone’s existing “operations and growth projections” would be preserved, “with no planned changes to Stone jobs.”
Sapporo U.S.A. chairman Kenny Sadai and CEO Maria Stipp will lead the combined organization. Members of Stone’s executive leadership team will remain in their roles and will be joined by Sapporo U.S.A.’s VP of corporate business. They will manage all U.S. and export business for Sapporo, Stone, Anchor Brewing (acquired in 2017) and Unibroue.
“Stone meets all the requirements we were looking for in a partner for growth,” Sadai said in the release. “It has the bi-coastal breweries, best-in-class team and a commitment to quality just like ours. With our complementary strengths, we are poised for incredible growth.”
“Today is a day of celebrations here at Stone,” Stipp added. “With Stone taking on full production of Sapporo beers in the U.S., this acquisition is unlike any other we’ve seen in craft. It’s the most uncompromising partnership we could have asked for. Adding the production of Sapporo’s beers to our own will double Stone’s current production with a team that’s like-minded and supportive of our past and future.”
Sapporo’s stated goal is to produce 360,000 barrels of beer in the U.S. at Stone’s facilities by the close of 2024. The company said it would essentially double production at Stone, which produced 326,281 barrels of beer in 2021 (-2%).
Sapporo said no changes are expected at Anchor in San Francisco.
Stone Distributing, which was carved out of the sale of the brewing operations, will continue to distribute Stone’s beers. However, the distributor will now serve as an independent wholesaler under the previous ownership and management teams as part of Stone Holdings.
Arlington Capital Advisors served as the advisory firm for Stone.