Duvel Moortgat hikes stake in Birrificio del Ducato to 70 percent

It was to be expected that Belgium’s brewer Duvel Moortgat would increase its investment in Italy’s craft brewer Birrificio del Ducato to a majority stake – which they did in February 2018.

Since the privately-owned brewer of Duvel first bought into the company in 2016, the Italian craft brewer has increased its output from 5,000 hl beer to 9,000 hl per year and installed a new bottling line. Birrificio del Ducato was founded in 2007.

With its majority stake in the business, Duvel hopes to bring Birrificio del Ducato’s craft beers to an international audience.

The founders of the Soragna-based firm, Manuel Piccoli and Giovanni Campari, will remain with the business and run the brewery.

Apart from the Duvel brewery in Puurs, the Moorgat family owns the Brasserie d’Achouffe in Houffalize, Brouwerij De Koninck in Antwerp, Brouwerij Liefmans in Oudenaarde, Brouwerij Bernard in the Czech Republic, Brewery Ommegang in New York, Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Firestone Walker in California, Brouwerij ’t IJ in Amsterdam, and now Birrificio del Ducato in Italy.

The financial terms of the Birrificio Del Ducato deal were not disclosed.