In an effort to cut costs amid declining sales, MillerCoors will close one of its eight U.S. brewing facilities, the company announced today. MillerCoors plans to close its Eden, North Carolina location in September 2016. A transition plan is still being finalized, but MillerCoors will “gradually” begin exiting the facility in early 2016, a company spokesman told Brewbound.
Stone Brewing today announced that co-founder Greg Koch is stepping down as CEO of the company and transitioning into a new role as executive chairman, a role that will remove him from day-to-day operations.
What feels like the worst kept secret in craft beer industry circles was finally revealed yesterday, as MillerCoors announced it would acquire a majority stake in fast growing San Diego craft brewery, Saint Archer Brewing. Financial terms were not disclosed, but a recent Wall Street Journal valuation estimate, which pegged craft brewery multiples at $1,000 per barrel, could mean Saint Archer fetched as much as $35 million
Continuing its expansion along the East Coast, SweetWater Brewing yesterday announced new distribution agreements in New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
Another California-based craft brewer has sold. Tenth and Blake, the craft and import division of MillerCoors, today announced it would acquire a majority interest in San Diego’s Saint Archer Brewing Company. The transaction is expected to close in October 2015. Financial terms were not disclosed. Saint Archer launched in 2013 and has grown rapidly in its short few years in business. It expects to sell 35,000 barrels of beer in 2015.
Executives from the nation’s largest domestic and import beer companies convened on Capitol Hill today, taking part in a day-long meeting featuring presentations and panel discussions from industry leaders, legislators and lobbyists alike. Included on the agenda were discussions of industry wide tax reform (as outlined in the bipartisan Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act), FDA menu labeling disclosures and the Beer Institute’s newly established federal “Beer PAC.”
Connecticut’s Two Roads Brewing has signed with craft-focused wholesaler Hunterdon Brewing Co. for distribution throughout the state of New Jersey, the company announced today.
MillerCoors’ board of directors today named interim CEO Gavin Hattersley as its permanent leader. Hattersley — who came to the SABMIller/Molson Coors joint venture in July, following former CEO Tom Long’s departure from the company — had been serving as both the chief of MillerCoors and the chief financial officer of Molson Coors.
Lagunitas Brewing, one of the fastest-growing craft breweries in the U.S., today announced it would enter into a joint venture with Heineken International, the world’s third largest beer company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but sources familiar with craft deals, according to the company’s hometown paper, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, have said the blockbuster deal could value Lagunitas at $1 billion.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, via its Goose Island Beer Company outfit, today announced it will acquire a majority stake in Michigan’s Virtue Cider. Specific financial terms were not disclosed, but officials with both companies described the partnership as a joint venture, noting that Goose would become the “majority shareholder” in the cidery.
River North Brewing is being forced out of the emergent Denver neighborhood it’s both named after and has called home since opening three and a half years ago. As reported by Westword, the company is closing its taproom and production brewery this October as the building’s owners have decided to raze the structure and construct, in its place, a luxury apartment complex.
San Diego’s Coronado Brewing has announced plans to increase capacity, install a canning line, and spread its real estate footprint as part of a multi-million dollar expansion effort.
Less than one month after it announced the acquisition of four wholesalers in Colorado, Anheuser-Busch InBev today announced another set of distributor transactions in California. In a statement, Bob Tallett, A-B InBev’s vice president of business and wholesaler development, said the company has agreed to acquire a stake in the Oakland, Calif.-based Horizon Beverage Company. In a second transaction, A-B will repurchase its brand rights from M.E. Fox & Company Inc., a beer and non-alcoholic beverage distributor based in San Jose, Calif.
Though named after a blink-and-miss-it optical phenomenon, Green Flash Brewing is doing all it can to stay visible at all times. The fast growing brewery out of San Diego, Calif. is undertaking what it’s calling a “multi-tiered growth and expansion strategy,” with a slew of developments on the packaging, brand and production fronts and updates to its executive leadership roster.
