Mergers & Acquisitions

“We obviously had grown so quickly that I just knew there was going to be an extent at how much we could realistically scale the business on our own, just due to our existing infrastructure, our own resources, and, quite frankly, even our kind of experience,” Far West Spirits founder Katie Beal Brown told Brewbound.

Diageo has acquired fast-growing hard seltzer maker Far West Spirits LLC, which produces the Lone River Ranch Water brand.

Deschutes Brewery has made the first acquisition in the 32-year-old craft brewery’s history. Bend, Oregon-headquartered Deschutes has acquired another Bend craft brewery, Boneyard Beer.

The Reyes Beer Division remains a very active acquirer in the state of California. The largest beer wholesaler in the U.S. continued to add to its business in the state today as its Harbor Distributing subsidiary signed an agreement to acquire Redding Distributing Company in Northern California.

A group led by hard cider entrepreneur Brett Williams acquired a stake in Wachusett Brewing Company last September, Brewbound has learned. “An opportunity presented itself during the pandemic to invest in Wachusett and we decided to do so,” Williams told Brewbound Thursday. “We are the only people that are crazy enough to invest in a brewery in a pandemic.”

Morganton, North Carolina-based Catawba Brewing Company acquired Skytown Beer Company, a brewpub in Wilmington, North Carolina, in a deal that closed February 10. Fifteen months after retrenching to focus on its brewpub, Boulder Beer’s portfolio will return to distribution in 28 states through a partnership with Stem Ciders and contract brewer Sleeping Giant in Denver.

Stone Distributing Company teased a move to a larger distribution center last week. The distribution arm of San Diego’s Stone Brewing Company today officially announced the move of its operations to the former Markstein Beverage Co. warehouse in San Marcos.

Ride-sharing tech behemoth Uber Technologies has struck a deal to acquire on-demand alcohol delivery marketplace Drizly for $1.1 billion in stock and cash, the companies announced today.

Brewbound readers in 2020 sought out news about the pandemic, mergers and acquisitions, brewery closures and job changes. 2020 marked a year of shifts for brewers, as well as Brewbound, which shifted its business model to a subscription model. With that in mind, we’ve pulled the five most-read stories before the paywall was introduced and the five most-read stories after.

Just two weeks after closing on the acquisition of Atlanta’s Sweetwater Brewing Company, Canadian cannabis company Aphria has reached an agreement to merge with Tilray, forming the world’s largest cannabis company valued at $3.8 billion.

Middle-tier consolidation continues to chug along, this time in Alabama. Gulf Distributing Holdings in Mobile, the state’s largest beer wholesaler, completed the acquisition of Supreme Beverage Co. in Huntsville on December 4.

Molson Coors Beverage Company is further solidifying its relationship with L.A. Libations by investing in Arriba, a brand of michelada mixers operated by the California-based incubator.

Crescent Crown — which operates distribution territories in Louisiana and Arizona and sells more than 37 million cases of beverages annually — announced Monday a deal to acquire Jim Carey Distributing Company in Covington, Louisiana.

This week’s edition of the Brewbound Podcast discusses the opportunities and challenges ahead for Canadian cannabis company Aphria — which struck a $300 million deal to acquire Atlanta’s Sweetwater Brewing Company in early November — the size of the cannabeer market and more.