Dutch brewer Bavaria buys Belgian brewer Palm

Despite several rebirths over the past two decades – from Brouwerij Palm to Palm Breweries to Palm Belgian Craft Brewers in 2014 – the Belgian brewing group Palm has seen its beer volumes decline and has finally sought rescue under the wings of the Dutch brewing group Bavaria.

No financial details were disclosed. Bavaria only said on 10 May 2016 that it has taken a controlling 60 percent stake in Palm Belgian Craft Brewers with the intent to fully acquire the family-owned company in 2021. Palm’s breweries (Palm and De Hoorn) in Steenhuffel and the Rodenbach brewery in Roeselare are part of the transaction. These locations will continue to brew beer in the future.

According to the statement, Palm will continue to exist as a Belgian firm and will remain under Belgian leadership. Palm’s previous owner Jan Toye will be Chairman of the Board of Directors, on which Bavaria’s Jan-Renier Swinkels and Frank Swinkels will also have seats.

The statement highlights that together, Bavaria and Palm have 600 years of beer brewing history. Bavaria’s history dates back to 1719. Today the brewery is run by the seventh generation of the Swinkels family. The Toye family is at the helm of the Palm brewery, which was founded in 1686 in the Belgian town of Steenhuffel. In 2015 the brewers jointly produced more than 6.5 million hl of beer, of which less than 500,000 hl were contributed by Palm. On its website Palm says that its brewing capacity is 1 million hl.

For Bavaria the acquisition makes plenty of sense. It provides them with Belgian heritage, prestigious brands and brewing capacity plus flexibility which they don’t have. In this respect, Palm is a complementary fit. Insiders say that Bavaria’s intent is not primarily to grow the sales of Palm’s portfolio in Belgium. Rather, Bavaria will seek to integrate Palm’s brands to boost their export sales.

Excluded from the transaction between Palm and Bavaria are the geuze and kriek beers produced by the Boon brewery in Lembeek. Boon was a partner of Palm at one point, but brewer Frank Boon immediately took to Facebook to stress that he was not taken over by Bavaria.

“On 30 June 2014, the share which Palm held in Boon (50 percent) was sold to the Diepensteyn holding company,” Boon wrote. “The other 50 percent is in the hands of the Boon family. On 1 January 2016 the distribution agreement between Palm and Boon came to an end. Boon in still Boon. There is no connection with Palm or Bavaria,” Mr Boon wrote.

This is correct – to a point. The man presiding over the Diepensteyn holding company is … Mr Toye.