08 Mar Media, Marketing & Events Company Indiana On Tap Sold to In-State Buyer in Large Transaction
Via the Indianapolis Business Journal
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Fishers-based Indiana On Tap LLC, a craft beer and spirits events, marketing, media and ticketing company, has been acquired by an Indiana-based buyer who plans to expand the company’s offerings and footprint.
Company founder Justin Knepp said Indiana on Tap’s sale was completed Friday morning to Andrew Cornwell. Knepp and Cornwell declined to provide the transaction price, but they confirmed that it was a multi-million dollar purchase.
Knepp said he decided to sell Indiana On Tap so that he can give more attention to the Dubois County Bombers, a collegiate summer league baseball team in Huntingburg that he purchased in 2022. He said the company received about a half-dozen offers for Indiana on Tap from buyers across the United States.
“I wanted to find the person who was going to be best-suited to continue to grow the company, and it is Andrew,” Knepp said. “And I was very lucky that he’s also a Hoosier, but it makes me very happy that the business is going to continue to be owned within the state of Indiana.”
Cornwell is a construction industry veteran who previously worked as a project manager at Fishers-based Meyer Najem Corp. He said he began looking for acquisition opportunities and was intrigued by the possibilities for Indiana On Tap.
“[Justin] told me some of the things about what they were doing, how they were doing it, kind of where he thought the business could grow and continue on from where, where he’s going to leave it,” Cornwell said. “I just think that there’s an immense opportunity for growth here.”
Knepp founded Indiana On Tap in 2014 with the goal of providing information about the state’s growing craft beer scene.
“I could tell right then that it was absolutely fulfilling a need,” he said.
Indiana On Tap, which hosts, plans and markets craft beer, wine, spirits and food events that draw thousands of people, in 2015 launched the Tasting Society Marketplace membership and rewards program that connects people with hundreds of participating breweries, distilleries and partner locations across the entire state.
In 2018, the company launched On Tap Tickets, an online ticketing platform designed for craft beverage, food, music and community events. Two years later, the company entered into a licensing agreement and established Florida On Tap and started OnTapTix, a national ticketing platform. Knepp called the ticketing platforms “the most valuable thing that we ever created.”
He added Indiana On Tap has experienced double-digit growth for 10 consecutive years, including during the pandemic and over the past couple of years when an increasing number of craft beer breweries have closed. Craft beer’s 13% market share in the United States in 2022 was identical to its 13% market share in 2018, according to the Brewers Association, an industry trade group.
“The reason why is thanks in part to the diversity of our revenue streams,” Knepp said. “While some craft breweries have begun to close, their fans never left. The industry has seen a market correction, but we have always evolved our business and our offerings to continue to best serve our own customers and our own fans.”
Cornwell said he plans to expand the use of the ticketing platforms both within Indiana and outside the state, add more events and increase Tasting Society Marketplace membership.
“I want to try to capture more of that [ticketing] market here in Indiana and eventually kind of just branch out into other neighboring states,” Cornwell said. “I think there’s just an endless amount of small venues and even medium-sized venues that can benefit from a local Indiana company to help process and collect payments for their tickets.”
Indiana On Tap has three full-time employees and five part-time employees and contractors.
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