Northern Brewer acquired by Anheuser-Busch
October 19, 2016 - 5:43 PM
- by Kendall Jones, Washington Beer Blog -Northern Brewer has been acquired by the venture capital arm of Anheuser-Busch. By this time, another acquisition in the beer industry isn't really news, but as far as we know this is A-B's first foray into the world of homebrewing. Northern Brewer is one of the country's leading homebrew ingredients and equipment suppliers. In addition to its sizable online presence, the company also operates three brick and mortar locations, two in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin (St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee).
The news started to trickle out a couple weeks ago on homebrewing forums. Yesterday, Chris Farley, the founder/owner of Northern Brewer, released a statement on the company's website.
"Many of you have seen the news that we’ve closed a deal to be acquired by ZX Ventures, the global Disruptive Growth Unit of Anheuser-Busch InBev," said Farley. "I’ll admit, we didn’t share this with you the way we should and for that, I apologize. I think this is a really important moment in our company’s history and an important moment in our shared passion for brewing great beer."
According to the ZX Ventures website, the company is a a global disruptive growth group, incubator, and venture capital team backed by one of the largest multinational companies in the world, Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Farley says that nothing at Northern Brewer will change fundamentally. "Our entire leadership team will remain intact and our company will continue to be independent," he said. "Our staff of dedicated employees will continue to serve our customers and help our industry innovate. Our culture will remain as it is today: vibrant, energetic, fair and dedicated to our mission and to you."
"This partnership with ZX Ventures is about growing our company and providing our customers with unparalleled opportunities. This deal will make us stronger and able to pursue our passion with even greater focus, better tools and ingredients."
"We are convinced that this partnership will be good for us and great for you," said Farley.
Read Chris Farley's complete statement about the acquisition here.
