Boston Beer Company & Dogfish Head Brewery Are Merging

I'm excited if this helps Boston Beer Co.! I can imagine it moving them in a more forward direction. As for Dogfish, I'm not sure, but whatever, I trust Sam.

It seems to me like Sam wrote this but... Scraaaaatch... "Any company not looking at radical opportunities in a competitive industry will go the way of the typewriter"? I thought DFH was all about "analog" and not digital?

Fingers crossed that this won't turn out like the Tabernash / Left Hand merger as I miss Tabernash.

 

Wow, in another post I said maybe SA should call Brewdog (was joking) and then read this. I am excited for them both, combined this could be very cool. I just hope they listen to their market going forward. I am eager to see what new things come out, cheers and much success.

 

Never though I'd see DFH be anything other than independent. Not really sure how I feel about this, since SA certainly hasn't seemed to me to be anywhere near DFH levels of craft-ness for years.

I mean, I wish them the best, but...wow.

 

I think both companies can use this opportunity to find new ways to move their brands forward. The industry has gotten so much more competitive, they need to look at ways to retain their advantage. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

 

Excellent news, this merger makes sense all around and is a smart business decision. Keep innovating and offer the public new exciting beers.

 

Trust Sam’s judgement is my take. He potential has not yet been reached. Go Sam Go!

 

I'm shocked at this. I guess I'd rather see this than either of them sell to InBev. I guess.

 

I am curious to see how this plays out. The craft beer world has gotten hyper local IMO and there is a drive to try the next new thing over reliable brews. I also see mid sized regionals are struggling.
I know that both breweries make excellent beers, but when was the last time I bought something from DFH? Quite a while ago. SA I will buy at a wedding or bar if its the only craft. I used to get both regularly....like 12 years ago.
I hope this works out and think both are very good businessmen, so they must have thia figured out. Im just not sure it gets me back into the fold as a regular purchaser.

Good luck guys!!

 

Kinda late for Aprils Fools' Day, ain't it.

Boston Beer Co.'s corporation website has more technical info on the deal.
The Boston Beer Company and Dogfish Head Brewery to Merge...
Cash and Stock Transaction, Valued at Approximately $300 Million

 

Surprising, but looking at the big picture I think it will be a beneficial move for both of them, and hopefully the consumers as well. Best wishes to everyone involved!

 

What I wish they mentioned was news of the 1st new release from them as a team... Would love to see something soon to kick off summer....

 

I was shocked to hear it... but it does make sense. I'm totally behind this. I love Sam Adams and I love Dogfish Head too. The brands work together and I'm excited to see where this goes. Best of luck with the new merger and cheers!

 

Absolutely fascinating news. I really hope this gives them the competitive advantage to be successful moving forward. I also hope that DFH continues to create innovative beers.

 

Wow just wow! Excited to see these two change the game again. Good people!

 

Also, already looking forward to a Utopias like beer with DFH influences. Will be crazy!

 

BBC being a publicly traded company, and DFH a private company. How does a merger work?
or is this an acquisition, and added to BBC?
Just curious, and wishing for the best outcome for both parties.
Cheers

 

It is still David vs Goliath- Just now David has upgraded his slingshot!

 

Woah, this is huge news.

Now we just gotta figure out if they will now still fit the definition of "craft" or "macro" brewers!

 

See @jesskidden's post, just above.

 

This was my first thought as well. I have a lot of respect for both companies, so I'll be rooting for them. Time will tell I suppose if I'll regularly purchase their beers instead of our local fresh ones at the neighborhood bottle shop, but hopefully they will be a go-to option in "non-craft" bars and restaurants.

 

So DFH got many many millions. I'm assuming the branding will focus more on SA now huh? Otherwise, why even merge? Are skus going to change? Branding? I don't see how this is beneficial to DFH. SA is a dinosaur. But a dinosaur with millions to spend. They call it a equal merger but what did SA gain here?

 

I hope this works out well for both brands. Sam Adams, in particular, has played such an important role in my beer-drinking evolution, and I still enjoy Boston Lager whenever I have it.

Any word yet what this means for DFH production employees?

 

It sure will be interesting to see this play out. Money aside, what are they going to call it?? Or are they holding the original Sam Adam's and DFH lables?

 

They bought what they needed very badly, a younger, more hip image.... SA, in my humble view, is suffering from a tired image. DFH represents a younger, edgier outfit.... Smart move in my eyes.

 

Weren’t Boston Beer recent sales increases coming more and more from alternate beverages like cider and spiked seltzer?

If so, perhaps this an attempt to revive the beer side of the portfolio? I’d be interested in the new branding, if there is any.

 

This seems like an ‘awkward’ merger to me. I am not seeing the ‘synergy’ here.

“Sam Calagione and his family will receive approximately 406,000 shares of Boston Beer stock based on a share price of $314.60. Dogfish Head shareholders will also receive $173 million in cash...”

Sam & family will be compensated to the amount of $127.7 M (in stock). The other Dogfish Head shareholders will divvy up $173 M (in cash).

The above looks like a buyout.

Cheers!

 

Boston Beer's 2018 Annual Report listed their total barrelage at 4.3 million, and DFH had a press release that they were targeting 300,000 barrels for 2018.

So I guess they are still safely under the BA's 6 million threshold for a craft brewer. And I guess it probably would help keep the beer production over 50%, considering it seems that BBC's growth has been in their cider and hard seltzer, not beer.

 

Two of the greatest minds in our industry who have fought battles on behalf of those who have chose the path of least resistance. I'm guessing lots of breweries will be sleepless tonight thinking of who they can merge with...

 

JK (@jesskidden), would you know how much 'excess' capacity exists at the Sam Adams brewery near Allentown (or the other brewery)? Would this new merger make sense from a beer production consolidation perspective?

Cheers!

 

As with most mergers, I'm sure a lot of the discussion and rationalization revolved around the idea of "synergy". Something about how the "...whole is greater than the sum of its parts". Hopefully for the employees, this doesn't just mean getting rid of overlapping jobs, but involves leveraging production, distribution and marketing. I was at a beer seminar once, and someone asked how you define the difference between a micro and macro brewery. The answer was that any brewery that produced fewer barrels per year than Boston Beer was considered "micro". This was not a static number because it continually increases. It just took a big jump up....

 

Does this mean we might finally get 6-packs of Old Fezziwig for the holidays?

 

Aready solved. Still craft by Brewer's Association definition.

From my point of view they both brew flavorful beer and are not even close to being one of the big kids brewing Adjunct Lagers.

 

I wonder if they are getting voting or non-voting shares?

From BBC's Annual Report:

 

Thanks,
Missed that earlier post
Cheers

 

BBC's Annual Report indicates that only 80% of production is at company owned breweries (seems the other 20% is at City Brewing). Not sure how that divides between beer and other products, but perhaps they are at full capacity in PA and OH?

 

I'd suggest that the branding will remain the same and that the benefits to DFH are being able to have full US distribution with the BBC sales team including them in the portfolio. In addition they have a management/decision making role in the combined company. The benefits to BBC are that they acquire an existing line of successful IPAs, some successful sours and a growing program of sours as well as a budding barrel aging program. Thus they will be able to concentrate on styles not covered by DFH. So I'd predict we'll see a disappearnce of most if not all IPAs under the BBC label, more sours from DFH brand and the growth of their barrel aging program.

BBC a Dinosaur with it's stock selling for over 300 per share up from about 200 over the last year?

Edit: Maybe this will also lead to the return of Noble Pils????

 

Is that for all Boston Beer Co. beverages (including cider, etc.)?

Cheers!

 

Surprising, but not. There will be more consolidation, especially if the economy gets worse (which it will at some point). I think that there is good synergy with the merger.

From a personal standpoint, it really won't impact me. I don't drink SA and stopped drinking DFH several years ago. I didn't dislike DFH, but I found just as good offerings within California and DFH didn't standout except for one or two beers.

It will be interesting to see how the local vs region transition ends up. As long as you are making good/great beer, you should survive.

 

I say congratulations to both companies. Jim K. and Sam C. are no dummies; if Sam didn't see the synergies and the ability to keep the Dogfish brand its own, and if Jim didn't see the synergies and didn't see any value in DFH, as it is and for what it is, being part of the Boston Beer stable of brands, then one or both of them would have walked away from the table.

I believe this "marriage" will result in an increasing number of quality, innovative products being introduced under both brands (Samuel Adams and Dogfish Head).

In an era of buyouts/sellouts/mergers/investments, I believe this one will be a win-win-win for BBC, DFH, and consumers.