8 replies to this topic

[hollywood]

This time it's Golden Road.

http://www.brewbound...ire-golden-road

[Rail Paul]

If you can't make good beer, buy somebody else's

[AaronS]

I wonder why they bother to make this public.

[Anthony Bonner]

It's actually financially a pretty good strategy - beer distribution is a scale business.

[Rail Paul]

I suspect only a small % of beer drinkers know who makes shock top or blue moon.  Bud and Coors

[AaronS]

sure, but I think the percentage of people who buy the expensive goose island products who know about their ownership is probably much higher. there are always long discussions about boycotts on the beer forums when ab/inbev buys someone out.

I'm sure it's sound financially. over the past few years inbev has added at least one brewery in the northwest, midwest, north east, and now california. there are also rumors that they tried to buy cigar city, so it looks like they're trying to get at least one in every region.

what I don't understand is why the breweries don't choose to work with investors who can keep it quiet when they (understandably) want to cash out.

[hollywood]

They'd eventually have to put the news in annual reports anyway.

[AaronS]

if they take money from non public investors they can keep it quiet. a private equity firm bought oskar blues recently.

[Anthony Bonner]

in theory ABI can pay more because their distribution economics are better.

 

In a sense this is a replay of how the beer industry consolidated in the us.

 

A lot of the top wine domains in France are owned by luxury conglomerates and insurance companies.