Portfolio holding company Seattle Hospitality Group (SHG) has invested in Seattle’s Pike Brewing Company.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Pike Brewing president Drew Gillespie declined to disclose whether SHG acquired a controlling stake in the business. Instead, he described the deal as creating a partnership.
“It’s not someone who wants to come in and join us and then leave. It’s long term,” he said. “It’s a great organization and [they have] really helped us bring resources that, as a smaller company, we didn’t have access to.”
Gillespie will continue to lead Pike’s executive team, along with founder Charles Finkel.
SHG, a privately held company founded in 2002 by Howard Wright, owns or holds an interest in hospitality, tourism, and transportation companies in Washington, Oregon, and California.
“Pike Brewing Company embodies everything SHG seeks in an investment,” Wright said in a release. “The company’s unique, high-quality products have helped define life in the Pacific Northwest for more than 30 years. Charles and Pike president Drew Gillespie are forward-looking and committed to securing and expanding their company’s future for generations to come. We can help them realize that dream.”
SHG’s investment portfolio includes the Ethan Stowell Restaurant Group, Kenmore Air, MTRWestern, and family affiliated ownership of Seattle’s signature attractions, the Space Needle and Chihuly Garden and Glass, the Sheraton Grand Seattle, and the Monterey Marriott.
In addition to SHG, Seattle-headquartered Ethan Stowell Restaurants also invested in Pike. Gillespie told Brewbound the restaurant group provides an outlet for Pike beer to be served, as well as an opportunity to join forces for purchasing and training for the brewery’s two restaurants.
“Pike’s Brewing’s products are among the Pacific Northwest’s signature beverage offerings,” Ethan Stowell said in the release. “We look forward to working with the Pike team to grow the brand and help get their excellent beers in front of even more people.”
Conversations between Pike and SHG started in 2018 and were set to conclude in 2020. However, closing the deal was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Gillespie. Serious conversations resumed in June 2020 following the death of Pike Brewing co-founder Rose Ann Finkel, Charles Finkel’s wife. Rose Ann’s death emphasized the need to plan for Pike’s future.
“I designed Pike Brewing to be a hundred-year-old brewery like those I worked with in Europe years ago,” Finkel said in the release. “I’m 77-years-old, and I was looking for the right partner to help Pike’s legacy live on. SHG’s focus on iconic businesses and understanding of the Pacific Northwest experience made them the perfect partner to achieve that 100-year goal and beyond.”
This isn’t the first transaction for Pike, which the Finkels founded in 1989. The husband-and-wife duo sold the company and Seattle brewery in January 1997, but re-acquired both in May 2006.
In 2015, the Finkels sold a “significant minority” stake to three long-term employees: Gillespie, Patti Baker, and Gary Marx. In 2018, Gillespie was made president, while the Finkels stayed on as “active members” of Pike’s management team.
“By formalizing them as owners alongside us, we are ensuring that Pike Brewing remains independent and continues to grow organically,” the Finkels said in a statement at the time.