It took some time, but Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) has officially entered the craft beer business, today announcing the $1 billion acquisition of San Diego’s Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits. It’s a blockbuster transaction — the largest ever in craft — and represents an astonishing $3,500 per barrel multiple, as Ballast Point is expected to produce 290,000 barrels in 2015.
Constellation Brands is officially entering the craft beer category, and in a big way. The Corona and Modelo maker today announced it would acquire San Diego’s Ballast Point Brewing for a whopping $1 Billion. “The purchase price values the acquisition multiple of the projected calendar 2016 Ballast Point EBITDA in the mid-to-high teens range,” Constellation said in a press statement.
Liquidity options are plentiful for owners of craft breweries: strategic sale, private equity, management buyout, family transfer, leveraged recapitalization. Which path should you take? Harpoon, New Belgium, Odell, Left Hand and many others walked a different path. These breweries chose to implement an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). ESOPs can be a great exit strategy for craft brewers. Outlined below are the top five reasons why craft brewers should consider an ESOP.
After teasing broader East Coast distribution in September, Maui Brewing has officially expanded its reach throughout Florida, New York and Massachusetts, the company announced Tuesday. Meanwhile, Seattle’s Fremont Brewing is making its first significant foray outside of Washington, extending its relationship with Columbia Distributing to include Oregon, the company announced today.
After nearly two months of negotiations, extensions and industry speculation, global brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev said Wednesday that it had reached a formal agreement to acquire its largest competitor, London-based SABMiller, in deal valued at approximately $106 billion. As part of the deal, dubbed MegaBrew, and in effort to appease U.S. antitrust regulators, the Belgium-based A-B InBev will divest its interest in MillerCoors, a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors. Molson Coors will purchase the remaining 58 percent stake of MillerCoors that it did not already own for $12 billion.
Add San Diego’s Coronado Brewing to the growing list of established regional breweries freshening up their look. Coronado, complete with a new “stay coastal” motto, is evolving both its consumer messaging and its look as the company enters its 20th year. “The packaging design for the launch of our new cans offered a great opportunity to dive deeper into our coastal story,” said Heather Dueitt, the company’s marketing managers.
We’re pleased to announce that video playback from last week’s Brew Talks meetup, held at Golden Road Brewing in Los Angeles, Calif., is now available for video playback. During the evening’s first conversation, Brian Mulvaney, the senior vice president of Bank of America’s beverage finance division, discussed investment strategies for craft brewers. In a second discussion, Golden Road co-founder, Meg Gill, and Paul Burgis, the brewery’s COO/CFO, explained the circumstances that led them to explore a sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev.
After more than two years, Oregon’s Laurelwood Brewing will end its contract brewing relationship with Craft Brew Alliance and shift production to Full Sail Brewing, the company announced today. In a press statement, Laurelwood founder Mike De Kalb said he expects Full Sail, which is based in Hood River, Ore., to take over production in Spring 2016.
DBI Beverage Company has added 1.7 million new cases to its operation in San Jose, Calif., following the official closure of M.E. Fox & Company Inc., a local competitor that, in September, announced it would sell its beverage distribution business to DBI and Anheuser-Busch InBev. In a statement, DBI Beverage said it purchased the distribution rights and related assets of M.E. Fox, including brands from 26 different suppliers. Among them, notable craft standouts include Boston Beer, Sierra Nevada, North American Breweries and Hangar 24.
At last, a brewery based in the East will expand its brewing capabilities out West. Atlanta’s Sweetwater Brewing said it plans to build a secondary brewing facility in the Pacific Time zone by 2017 and, although it hasn’t decided on a final location, the company has identified California as a potential landing place.
Craft Brew Alliance today released its third quarter earnings results, which were highlighted by yet another flat depletion performance. Third quarter net sales increased $2.6 million, to $54.7 million (5 percent over the comparable period in 2014), but CBA is struggling to grow beer volumes as thousands of emerging brands continue to erode the market share of larger, more established craft outfits.
Firestone Walker is expanding at home, investing upwards of $15 million to increase brewing capacity at its Paso Robles, Calif. brewing facility. In an effort to double brewing capacity and reduce what co-founder David Walker described as a “hectic” brewing schedule, Firestone Walker will integrate a new 250-barrel brewhouse into its existing production facility.
Anheuser-Busch InBev today announced a number of changes to its commercial leadership roster, most notably that it would replace current vice president of U.S. sales, David Almeida. In separate notes sent to both employees and wholesalers, Zone North America president João Castro Neves said Almeida, who had served as the company’s VP of U.S. sales since 2011, would be named to a “global special project” and report directly to CEO Carlos Brito.
Sam Calagione’s relentless attempts to brand Dogfish Head beyond beer have put the company in front of millions of new craft beer consumers and helped make the company into one of the most successful craft breweries in the U.S. His latest, a collaborative web series with First We Feast, a food culture site owned by New York-based Complex Media, features Calagione creating beers with famous athletes, musicians and chefs.
