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.
Anchor Brewing has once again broadened its partnership with the San Francisco Giants, introducing a new “limited-edition” collaboration brew: Orange Splash Lager. The new beer — paying homage to the AT&T Park’s notorious “splash hits” (home runs that land on the fly into “McCovey Cove,” located beyond the right field wall) — blends pale 2-row, Caramel and Patagonia malts with Apollo, Bravo and experimental hops for a refreshing, citrus-forward beverage, the company said.
New York’s Captain Lawrence Brewing has signed on with Massachusetts Beverage Alliance (MBA) for distribution throughout the Bay State.
San Diego’s AleSmith Brewing has tapped Wirtz Beverage for distribution of its beers, including Speedway Stout and AleSmith IPA, throughout the Chicagoland area of Illinois beginning next month.
It’s no secret that Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery has been on the hunt for a location to build an east coast brewing facility. A recent report from Charlottesville Tomorrow, a non-profit news organization covering land use and development in the Charlottesville, Va. area, confirms that the company is indeed considering Virginia. Deschutes president Michael LaLonde told the website that Albemarle County is “one of several” east coast sites the company is currently eyeing.
Officials in Frederick, Md. approved a piece of legislation last week that would qualify businesses that open secondary locations to receive significant tax credits over 10 years on those additional properties, reports the Frederick News Post. Under the legislation, a company that invests at least $15 million and creates 100 new jobs in the city would be eligible for the highest bracket, tantamount to a 100 percent property tax credit.
New Belgium Brewing, which has added distribution in eight states within the last 24 months, yesterday announced it would begin shipping product to Hawaii, the 40th state in the brewery’s footprint. The company has signed an agreement with Young’s Market Company for distribution throughout the island state beginning in early 2016.
The Beer Institute today announced it has hired Denise Dunckel as its new vice president of public affairs. Dunckel joins the BI — which represents America’s brewers, beer importers and industry suppliers — just three months after former VP of communications, Chris Thorne, departed the organization. In a statement, McGreevy described Dunckel — who previously served as senior vice president of external affairs with Blackstone’s Invitation Homes — as a “proven leader in strategic communications.”
