New Belgium Brewing announces sale to Lion Little World Beverages (Kirin Holdings Company Limited)

Discussion in 'Beer News' started by ypsifly, Nov 19, 2019.

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  1. justmebro

    justmebro Devotee (386) Mar 9, 2015 Massachusetts

    Glad I have many good local micros.
     
  2. EmperorBatman

    EmperorBatman Zealot (717) Mar 16, 2018 Tennessee

    Can someone explain to me how these random Japanese brewing conglomerates are buying out the American craft beer industry? How do these people make so much capital to spend, by brewing mediocre beers?
     
  3. luisfrancisco

    luisfrancisco Zealot (606) Dec 1, 2009 Mexico

    Dang.
    Has anyone seen the sale price? Don't see it mentioned anywhere.
     
  4. Tom_Gilman

    Tom_Gilman Initiate (0) Jan 4, 2013 Pennsylvania

    Seems like a good thing for vested employees. I don’t see in the article that they’re losing their jobs; this is a buyout and arguably a significant boost for their retirement funds. Need to read the fine print though.

    But what do I know? I still drink old Belgium.
     
  5. JohnnyU6

    JohnnyU6 Initiate (117) Jun 14, 2017 New Jersey

    No big deal. As we all know, there is no such thing as "craft beer". Beer is beer. Business is business. Long live The American Dream!
     
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  6. Oktoberfiesta

    Oktoberfiesta Initiate (0) Nov 16, 2013 New Mexico

    $100,000 sounds nice. But it’s coming at the expense of retirement money. That’s not a lot at all. They got shafted. But then again, all of the other buyouts did not include this at all. So it’s something. But really, it’s pennies.

    And why buy a sinking ship? Are they gonna export the brand to unsuspecting locals?

    And if they’re taking their retirement money as a buyout or lump sum, I’m guessing this new company will not have a 401k or pension or any sort of retirement?
     
  7. Mongrel

    Mongrel Initiate (0) Feb 14, 2013 Maryland

    Oh they’ll kill them off alright. I love their tripel too, but only buy it periodically. You can bet they’ll streamline their rather broad lineup. Probably in favor of less core beers and more gimmicky rotating beers.
     
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  8. gueuzegeek

    gueuzegeek Initiate (0) Aug 11, 2003 New Jersey

    Could be worse, could be AB/InBev! Some good paydays for employees there!

    This should be interesting since I am. It sure of any other US craft brewers that are part of this group.

    I wish them the best, but am sad to see another one sell out.
     
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  9. jesskidden

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

    Someone above said they were the tenth largest brewer in the world - the list I have for 2016 from Barth-Haas Group Report puts them at #9, but they apparently also own #15, San Miguel in the Philippines (not the Spanish group that owns Founders), so that'd bump them up one place.
     
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  10. JackHorzempa

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

    Frankly, no.

    I took a tour of Bridgeport when I attended the National Homebrewers Conference (HomebrewCon) in Portland in 2018. The brewery was located in an area of Portland that was expanding/gentrifying (or pick your favorite word here). That real estate was more 'valuable' for something other than a brewery. Also, while I thought Bridgeport brewed good (solid) beers they just were not competitive with the plethora of other newer breweries in the Portland area. I will confess that I felt bad about their demise but considering the value of that location (for other development) and the fact they just simply they were 'sub-par' considering their local brewing competition it just made business sense for them to close. Maybe there are other craft breweries in this same situation? Do you have some examples/ideas in this regard?

    Cheers!
     
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  11. JackHorzempa

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

    Do you know what "market value" exactly means here? Is this predicated upon the sale price? Or is it valued in some other manner?

    Cheers!
     
    mikeinportc likes this.
  12. beardown2489

    beardown2489 Pooh-Bah (1,892) Oct 5, 2012 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Japan is a weird place. Everything they drink is far less intense than American standards. Goes for their beer, their bourbon, gin. It’s all about subtly, refinement, and nuance. If you are familiar with the Suntory portfolio you’ll kind of see what I mean. @Oktoberfiesta I suspect fat tire might do pretty well out there. Brooklyn lager has been making a dent, but I think fat tire is a bit more approachable.
     
  13. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,862) Mar 12, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I'd imagine international distribution is 'next level' up from their current seat

    The asian market is pretty large and I'd imagine many ingredients, labor, and infrastructure is pretty cheap.
     
  14. dele

    dele Zealot (560) Mar 13, 2019 Massachusetts

    So if New Belgium is employee owned, wouldn't a majority of the employees have to approve the sale before it could go through? And couldn't they make sure that the terms of the deal were more favorable to them than the retirement money on offer seems to be? To use grossly oversimplified math, if there were 300 employees and the sale price was $300M, wouldn't each employee be due an average of $1M, weighted by their seniority?
     
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  15. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,862) Mar 12, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    It wasn't equally owned by all employees, the money they got was payment for the stock that they held in the company. I think the reason it's talked about as 'retirement' money is because the vast majority of them will want to transfer it's value into a retirement account to avoid taxation.
     
  16. cg123

    cg123 Crusader (479) Feb 27, 2012 Ohio

    My guess is the company was valued by a third party prior to sale and thus shares valued accordingly. I've worked for an ESOP and the company was valued annually by a third party. The value of your shares then changed accordingly on an annual basis. It is not unlike a publicly traded company is valued. It was based on sales, gross revenues, profit margins etc., but instead of being valued at the close of the market day like a public company, it was only valued once a year.
     
  17. cg123

    cg123 Crusader (479) Feb 27, 2012 Ohio

    I've learned from this thread that people really don't understand what "Employee Owned" and how ESOP'a really work.
     
  18. JackHorzempa

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

    That is indeed correct and thank you for your contributions to this thread's discussion in this regard.

    Cheers to you!
     
  19. BeerDrinkinGuy

    BeerDrinkinGuy Initiate (0) Nov 2, 2018 Minnesota

    Isnt it ironic though that in the brewing industry low wages are common place while the company itself makes millions?
     
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  20. dele

    dele Zealot (560) Mar 13, 2019 Massachusetts

    cg123, care to enlighten us? I'm interested in learning. 'Employee-owned' is a big tagline for a number of companies, including New Belgium, so I'm sure there are plenty of people who would like to know if it doesn't mean what it sounds like it means (that the employees own the company, and hence would have a say in determining whether it should be sold and would also be due a major share of the proceeds if it were).
     
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