A little financial sleight of hand and suddenly a 20 million dollar fine seems like a small price to pay for the Craft Brew Alliance. ABInBev owned a minority stake in the group that includes Appalachian Mountain Brewery, Cisco Brewers, Omission Brewing Co., Redhook Brewery, Square Mile Cider Co., Widmer Brothers Brewing, and Wynwood Brewing Co. (basically just Kona and Widmer and really just Kona if you want to sit on brass tacks) had a September deadline for ABInBev to buy them at higher price A) 475 Million. That was declined and the 20 million paid so that lower price B) could be paid around 321 million.
321 + 20 < 475 sums up that transaction.
What happens now though Kona gets added to the formerly known as “High End” or “Brewers Collective” as if we were in the USSR. The other breweries on the list will too but I doubt they will last long before being spun out somehow. ABInBev has the geography and styles covered already with higher financial performers. Widmer Bros. is the odd duck here as a heritage brand with super-strong ties to Portland. It might be a target for revival for an ambitious under VP in ABInBev ranks. Or it may end up on the scrap heap too which would sad for the current oldest brewery in Portland.