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Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Widhook Acquires Kona Brewing

Wow.
Portland, Ore. (August 3, 2010) – Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc. (CBA) (Nasdaq: HOOK), has entered into a merger agreement that will strengthen a nine-year partnership with Kona Brewing Co. (Kona).  As a result of the merger agreement, Kona will become a wholly owned subsidiary of CBA and have the opportunity to expand its brand and distribution while maintaining its craft brewery operations in Hawaii....

Following the merger, Davis will continue to serve as president and CEO of Kona and will work closely with Michaelson to nurture the authenticity of the Kona brand and position it for long-term growth on the U.S. mainland. In addition, the current owners of Kona will receive an equity stake in the combined entity.
 
Rich Tucciarione will remain Brewmaster at Kona and the brewery’s operations will remain in Kailua-Kona on Hawaii’s Big Island, where the company takes an active role in supporting community events like the annual Kona Brewers Festival. Kona also takes proactive steps to minimize its impact on the natural resources of the island community, adopting programs that focus on solar energy, waste minimization, resource conservation, and support of local farmers and agriculture.

I do love me that Kona Porter...

5 comments:

  1. Kona brewing has been listed under the CBA umbrella for over 2 years now. Not sure this is new? Ah, yes.... The building of yet another Corporate Suit run conglomeration. How sad. InBev here they come!

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  2. Doc, previously they only owned 20% of Kona, and just had a brewing/distribution agreement.

    I'm kind of surprised that the stock is still up this morning. Sometimes these mergers send the price down (and it's still 20% higher than when I was shocked by its $4/share price two months ago!).

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  3. Thanks for the clarification, Bill.

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  4. In SWFla [and presumably all the East] the found
    - Kona
    - Red Hook
    - Widmer Bros.
    branded beers are brewed at the Redhook Brewing Co., near Portsmouth, NH, via the Craft Brewers Alliance.

    Seems a good implementation to me.

    Never have seen a Goose Island beer.

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  5. I think this bears a lot more consideration--grist for a future post. Thumbnail version: there's a whole lot different about this acquisition than when a macro buys up a bunch of generic SKUs from another brewery.

    Even as craft brewing grows, consolidation is its future. I could imagine way worse ways for it to happen.

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