Founders Brewery sold to Spain’s Mahou San Miguel
And here goes another one. The Spanish brewery group Mahou San Miguel has purchased a 30-percent stake in the Founders Brewing Company, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The transaction was announced on 17 December 2014.
Established in 1997, Founders ranked 26th among U.S. craft brewers in 2013 according to the Brewer’s Association. Co-owners Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers have grown the business into a 275-employee, 200,000-barrel-a-year operation, it was reported.
News of the transaction came after Founders declared in early December that it was embarking on a USD 40 million expansion (to 500,000 barrel capacity) that will grow its operation over its entire current city block.
Founders said the partnership would help the brewery tap the growing international market for craft beer, as well as allow Mahou to become directly involved in the U.S. craft beer market. Moreover, as Founders said, it will permit it to pay off some of its long-standing shareholders. “Many of our early investors are aging, and we believe it’s fair that they have the opportunity to realize a portion of their significant investments in the brewery. This is our way of saying thank you for their loyal support over the years”, Founders said.
Mahou San Miguel is the second European brewer to acquire an interest in a U.S. craft brewer after Belgium's Duvel Moortgat took a majority stake in Missouri's Boulevard Brewing Co last year.
According to Euromonitor, Mahou ranks second (30 percent) in Spain in terms of volume market share, behind Heineken España with 32 percent, while Damm maintained its third position with a 13 percent volume share in 2013. It was formed when Madrid-based Mahou bought San Miguel from Danone (Kronenbourg) in 2000.
This being the U.S., bloggers have already raised the question: should Founders still be considered a craft brewer now that Mahou holds a 30 percent stake?
The Brewers’ Association has defined a craft brewer as “small, independent and traditional”, meaning it has to make less than 6 million barrels of beer each year; only 25 percent or less of the brewery can be owned or controlled by an alcohol producer which is not itself a craft brewer; and it must make a majority of its product with “flavour derived from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation."
Trouble is, Mahou San Miguel made more than 10 million barrels of beer and beverages in 2012, therefore Founders may not qualify as a “craft brewer” any longer.
Following the announcement, Founders’ CEO Mike Stevens acknowledged the possibility of his company being removed from the BA’s list. “We’ve been members of the Brewers Association for years. We respect their definitions; however, we’re making the same beer today that we made yesterday,” Mr Stevens reportedly wrote in an email.
