It’s the question on every craft brewery owner’s mind: who’s next?
After a record-breaking year that included at least 24 different craft brewery transactions, it’s no longer a matter of if, but when a prominent craft beer company will announce some kind of sale.
In 2015, those announcements came in various forms — strategic acquisitions by big beer companies, private equity investments, new joint ventures, management buyouts and the establishment of employee stock ownership plans.
It’s all part of the market nowadays. Name a rapidly expanding craft brewery — or even one that’s simply been around for more than 20 years — and chances are there’s someone talking about a possible sale. It’s just a fact of life when the business is booming, breweries are changing hands weekly and, in some cases, when there’s a private equity investment to start the clock ticking.
And in the wake of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s holiday shopping spree… CONTINUE READING AT BREWBOUND
