Lion acquires craft brewer Magic Rock

United Kingdom | And another one goes to – Lion. Australia’s number two brewer, Lion, which is owned by Japan’s Kirin, has followed up on last year’s purchase of London’s Fourpure brewery with the acquisition of Yorkshire’s craft brewer Magic Rock. The full takeover was announced on 29 March 2019. Financial details were not disclosed.

Located in Huddersfield, a town of 150,000 people halfway between Manchester and York, Magic Rock was founded by Richard Burhouse and head brewer Stuart Ross in 2011. It is one of the early craft breweries in the UK and famous for its IPAs, including its flagship Cannonball IPA.

The 15,000 hl brewery (2018) runs a taproom in Huddersfield and last year inaugurated the SeshFest, a summertime beer festival dedicated to sessionable beer styles with less than 4.5 percent ABV. Reportedly, Magic Rock already exports to 25 countries worldwide.

It was confirmed that the founders will remain in their roles for at least the next four years.

The acquisition of Magic Rock marks Lion’s second in the UK within the short span of nine months. In July 2018, Lion took over Fourpure, previously one of London’s largest craft breweries and one of the landmarks on the city’s famous Bermondsey Beer Mile.

Placing its bets on the London craft beer market, Lion is currently in the process of opening a Bermondsey taproom for its Panhead brand – a New Zealand craft brewer Lion bought in 2016 – as well as a taproom for its Australian Little Creatures’ brand in the re-developed Granary Square, behind London’s King’s Cross railway station. All this seems to be part of Lion’s international growth strategy – with Kirin’s blessing – which focuses on major cities around the globe. Little Creatures’ brewpubs have opened in Hong Kong, Singapore and San Francisco.

Magic Rock’s sale is further evidence of the importance international brewers place on the UK’s craft beer scene, which is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing in volume terms. It currently represents around a 6 percent (2.8 million hl) of UK beer volume and 5 percent of global craft beer volume, according to Lion.

In January this year, Asahi bought London’s brewer Fuller’s – it already owns the Meantime brewery –, while in 2018 Heineken bought a minority stake in Beavertown. AB-InBev snapped up craft brewer Camden Town in 2015 and Carlsberg took over London Fields in 2017.