Boston Beer Company & Dogfish Head Brewery Are Merging

Discussion in 'Beer News' started by Todd, May 9, 2019.

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  1. OldBrewer

    OldBrewer Savant (1,221) Jan 13, 2016 Canada (ON)

    Interesting that a (mostly) lager brewing company and an IPA brewing company get together. I'm not sure how this will help Dogfish Head Brewery as they are already quite successful on their own, but it should help Boston Beer Company.

    I wonder - does this mean that Dogfish Head products will now be sold in the eastern USA market?
     
  2. BayAreaJoe

    BayAreaJoe Pooh-Bah (1,650) Nov 23, 2017 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I see how the announcement mentions "high end price points" and "high-end beer category," so I guess that means DFH prices will just remain where they're at and not get more inline with Sam Adams. Oh well.
     
    ESHBG likes this.
  3. ESHBG

    ESHBG Pooh-Bah (2,099) Jul 30, 2011 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I know that this is market specific but outside of a few beers SA and DFH = now too expensive in my market for what they are and I just don't buy [pun intended] that this is going to lead to a big price drop. But this merger is interesting for sure and will be neat to see how it plays out.
     
  4. AlcahueteJ

    AlcahueteJ Grand Pooh-Bah (3,088) Dec 4, 2004 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Do you have any examples of breweries that were acquired and/or mergers that drastically changed the portfolios of those companies?
     
  5. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Maybe that was what was necessary to bring the buy-out to fruition. Part of the negotiated sale.
    I seriously doubt that since he was not granted the title of CEO.

    Cheers!
     
  6. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,071) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Boston Beer Co. Annual Report:

    The Class B Shareholder Has Significant Control over the Company.
    The Company’s Class A Common Stock is not entitled to any voting rights except for the right as a class to (1) approve certain mergers, charter amendments and by-law amendments and (2) elect a minority of the directors of the Company. Although not as a matter of right, the Class A stockholders have also been afforded the opportunity to vote on an advisory basis on executive compensation. Consequently, the election of a majority of the Company’s directors and all other matters requiring stockholder approval are currently decided by C. James Koch, who is the founder and Chairman of the Company, as the holder of 100% of the voting rights to the outstanding shares of the Company’s Class B Common Stock. As a result, Mr. Koch is able to exercise substantial influence over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the composition of the board of directors, approval of equity-based and other executive compensation and other significant corporate and governance matters, such as approval of the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm. This could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of the Company and makes most material transactions difficult or impossible to accomplish without the support of Mr. Koch. While Mr. Koch is currently the 100% holder of the Company’s Class B Common Stock, there is nothing that prevents Mr. Koch or his heirs from transferring some or all shares of the Class B Common Stock to others.


    "Eastern"
    ? Typo? Did you mean "western"?

    DFH's current distributors list covers most US states (and DC), from coast to coast.
    https://www.dogfish.com/company/distributors
     
    #146 jesskidden, May 10, 2019
    Last edited: May 10, 2019
  7. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Yes, and that ongoing management/decision making involvement by Sam is part of what makes it a Merger rather than a simple Acquisition.
     
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  8. oldbean

    oldbean Initiate (0) Jun 30, 2005 Massachusetts

    His judgement was that it was time to cash out.
     
  9. WormGod

    WormGod Zealot (554) Jun 30, 2016 New York

    While I am happy for both of these breweries and have enjoyed many of their beers in the past, I don't see much in the way of benefits for the craft beer consumer. Neither of these breweries has been innovative for quite some time now.
     
    Matt_Rouge likes this.
  10. OldBrewer

    OldBrewer Savant (1,221) Jan 13, 2016 Canada (ON)

    Sorry, my mistake. I thought Dogfish Head was west coast.
     
  11. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    We will see how this will play out. I have been worked for several companies that were 'merged' with a larger company and while it was advertised as being a merger of 'equals' with executives of my company given high level positions (e.g., membership on the board) it was shortly clear that it was a buy-out. Nothing necessarily wrong with this situation unless you were part of a department which was viewed as being redundant and all of the purchased company's employees were laid off and the buying company's employees were permitted to stay (but with a heavier workload).

    Cheers!
     
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  12. officerbill

    officerbill Pooh-Bah (2,228) Feb 9, 2019 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    The various Sam Adams beers are competitively priced around here and sell well. Dogfish Head, on the other hand...
    [​IMG]
     
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  13. i_still_like_beer

    i_still_like_beer Initiate (0) Nov 21, 2018 New Jersey

    I personally am not a fan of Dogfish Head, and I feel like they missed a huge opportunity get into the NE style IPA beers early on, but wow good for them. Sam and his family will get 406,000 shares of SAM valued @ 314.60/share!
     
  14. Newport_beerguy

    Newport_beerguy Pooh-Bah (1,836) Feb 24, 2011 Rhode Island
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Selectively choosing their most expensive brand? lol
    Actually $9/bottle is a bargain for 120, mostly $10 each around my neck of the woods. Love that I have seen 90-minute 4-pack tallboys for $10-11 on occasion, much tastier than half the NEIPAs going for $13-15/4-pack at the store.
     
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  15. AlcahueteJ

    AlcahueteJ Grand Pooh-Bah (3,088) Dec 4, 2004 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Society

    It's 20% ABV, so this is more than understandable.

    Utopias is 28% ABV and goes for ~$200 for a 750 mL bottle (25.4 ounces).
     
    chrismattlin likes this.
  16. Dandrewjohn

    Dandrewjohn Zealot (575) Apr 13, 2013 Texas

    Man, why do I get a sinking feeling about this? The rhetoric is right out of the M&A playbook, the principals are getting wildly rich, and I'm having trouble seeing how this is going to benefit the craft beer business. Another really big brewer taking more shelf space because of improved economies and the little guy being pushed aside even more. IDK, maybe I'm wrong. Big consolidations come at a price. I just know I wouldn't want to be one of those small brewers trying to get a piece of the market. Who's next, Greg Koch?
     
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  17. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,274) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I spend about $100 a year on Sam Adam's, but cant recall the last DFH brew I purchased. As long as Utopias keeps coming I will be happy.
     
    LuskusDelph likes this.
  18. MNAle

    MNAle Initiate (0) Sep 6, 2011 Minnesota

    So, one bottle of BBC every other year, then... :wink:
     
  19. deleted_user_995920

    deleted_user_995920 Initiate (0) Jun 4, 2015

    Does this mean Dogfish Head is now a macro brewer ? Boston beer company was great 30 years ago. They diversified too much and I personally don't like the direction they went. Boston Lager was the epitome of craft brewing a long time ago. Now they kinda suck-When Sam stared selling hard liquor I assumed greed had taken over at that point. This is like the merger of greed-
     
  20. jayrutgers

    jayrutgers Zealot (699) Oct 29, 2011 New Jersey

    Boston Beer is not a macro brewer, and Sam started selling hard liquor almost twenty years ago.
     
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