Support NeoGAF

[XiaNaphryz]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...u-s-s-anchor-brewing-to-boost-overseas-growth

Anchor Brewing Co., a century-old San Francisco brewer that helped pioneer the craft-beer movement, will be acquired by Sapporo Holdings Ltd., part of a push by Japanese beverage companies to seek growth on U.S. soil.

The business, best known for Anchor Steam beer, fetched about $85 million in the transaction, which is slated to close by the end of the month.

The deal reflects mounting pressure by craft brewers to find deep-pocketed partners as they face an increasingly crowded market. For Sapporo, the challenge is coping with a slowdown in its home country. Beer consumption in Japan has been on a steady decline in the last decade as the number of young people reaching drinking age shrinks.

The Anchor purchase also helps open more channels to sell existing brands. Until now, the company has sold beer in the U.S. that was made in Canada, Sapporo Holdings President Masaki Oga said in a briefing with reporters Thursday.

“With the Anchor acquisition, we will have the capability to make and distribute beer in the U.S.,” said Oga, who took the helm at the beginning of this year. “We will also speed up expansion of Sapporo premium beer.”

Sapporo, Japan’s fourth-largest brewer, operates six beer factories in its home country and three in North America. That includes Canada’s Sleeman Breweries Ltd., which it acquired about a decade ago.

Gaining Cachet

Anchor Brewing is the 22nd-largest craft brewer in the U.S. by sales volume, according to figures released by the Brewers Association in March. It has one production plant in San Francisco and posted annual sales of about $33 million in 2016, according to Sapporo.

That’s a tiny fraction of the Japanese brewer’s sales, which amounted to 541.8 billion yen ($4.9 billion) last year. But the deal provides the company with cachet and a bigger foothold in a key market.

Craft-beer deals had gotten frothy in recent years, but the M&A climate has cooled in 2017. That may have helped Sapporo get a better price with Anchor Brewing.

Sapporo is paying about 2.6 times annual revenue for Anchor, compared with the 8.7 times revenue U.S.-based Constellation Brands Inc. paid for craft brewer Ballast Point in 2015. That same year, a closely held Spanish brewer, Mahou-San Miguel Group, considered buying a minority stake in parent Anchor Brewers & Distillers LLC, weighing an investment of as much as $300 million, according to people familiar with the matter at the time.

 

[BronsonLee]

THEY'RE INVADING

Expansion of Sapporo is cool with me, I don't mind it

 

[louiedog]

I love Anchor. I hope they don't screw it up.

 

[Sanjuro]

More steel cans please.

 

[Deleted member 20415]

I like Anchor beer, but I'm getting REALLY wary of all these big acquisitions.

Stone... I hope you never sell

 

[Easy_G]

I almost exclusively drink Anchor California Lager and Los Gigantes these days. As long as nothing effectively changes for Anchor beyond where the money goes I'll stay happy. Granted, it would be nice if nothing had changed at all.

 

[distantmantra]

This was the second time that Anchor has been purchased, actually. They were purchased by a venture capital group seven years ago.

Can't remember the last time I had an Anchor beer, but they truly are the old guard in craft.

 

[Auctopus]

Love the Anchor Steam, hope this was the right decision for them.

 

[ZiggyPalffyLA]

I have a tradition of drinking Anchor Steam at the Embarcadero every time I go to SF, so I really hope nothing changes.

 

[see5harp]

Huh. I had no idea Ballast Point had already been acquired. I guess that's why you see it everywhere now.

 

[cirrhosis]

Sapporo isn't on my shitlist yet so I'm okay with this.

 

[Duane Cunningham]

Normally it's a bummer when a foreign mega brewer buys American breweries, but... I love Sapporo and I love Anchor, so maybe it won't be so bad.

Also, we're one step closer to

 

[pablito]

Not liking these acquisitions. Sapporo isn't as bad as AB Inbev though.

 

[Steejee]

Guess they won't need

Sapporo isn't InBev, but I have plenty of beer options that don't involve giant multinational beer companies, so I think I'll be dropping Anchor from my list of beers I'll buy.

 

[swoon]

is anchor distilling and the import wing separate from this purchase?

 

[bryehn]

Number seems low for such an iconic brand. Ah well, they didn't fuck up Unibroue, so if this means more availability in cans (they brew Sleeman, Old Milwaukee and a few other low-mid-tier brands for the Canadian market here in Ontario), I might drink their beer more. 6 packs are inefficient for me as I don't drive.

is anchor distilling and the import wing separate from this purchase?

Yes.