Tag: purchase

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Cost of One CBA

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.

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Suffer & Sierra

Sierra Nevada has expanded.  They have acquired the Sufferfest Beer Company of nearby San Francisco. (During SF Beer Week no less.)

 Started in 2016, Sufferfest makes gluten-removed beers such as a Kolsch and a Pale Ale. They are geared towards runners specifically and the health aware in general.  The brewery has its origins at UC Davis in 2012.

I can see the fit meshing from multiple viewpoints.  Company culture seems to be in the same ballpark.  Sufferfest is in a market that Sierra is not.  They are geographically close.  But for some nagging reason, I don’t know how this will benefit Sierra much. 

Sufferfest will be able to be brewed (once the recipes are dialed in over in Mills River) on the East Coast which will open a market and the probably longer arm of Sierra distribution.  But they could have entered into a brewing partnership without buying.  And it is still unclear how big, either the gluten-reduced or athlete market is going to fare long term.It’s sort of like trading for a player who has three-year contract vs. a similar player who has an expiring contract.  If the three point shooting goes south, you can walk away under the second scenario.

Maybe the numbers look really good for Sufferfest and that is what this deal is based on but I will be watching this one.