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Magic Hat To Acquire Pyramid
 Yesterday brought news that Burlington, Vermont craft brewer Magic Hat intends to purchase Seattle-based Pyramid Brewing. If the deal goes through, Magic Hat will assume $10 million of Pyramid's debt and pay $2.75 for each share of stock, making the deal worth around $35 million. Pyramid, one of the largest craft brewers in the country whose main brewing facility is in Berkeley, California, has been a publicly-held company since 1995. It ranks seventh among U.S. craft brewers in barrels produced. On the other hand, the up-and-coming Magic Hat is thirteenth in barrels produced and the merger would make the new company one of the largest craft brewers in the U.S.The potential merger has taken the craft beer world by storm and there's plenty of information in the beer blogs. Some find the deal puzzling and don't understand it, while others have provided some insight. Jay Brooks of Brookston Beer Bulletin has an industry source who told him "that Alan Newman, the owner of Magic Hat, had been looking for a way to get his brands to the left coast. Pyramid has an excellent distribution network which would be very beneficial to Magic Hat in reaching store shelves out here. Both brands do pretty well in their own markets and so perhaps there is a mutual benefit." Bay Area beer writer William Brand also has several posts on the subject. He spoke with Pyramid CEO Scott Barnum, who says the deal makes good sense because the newly merged company will have a national presence and a better chance to deal with increased competition from larger breweries. Brand goes on to mention "the possibility that Magic Hat beers may be brewed in Berkeley and Pyramid beers, including its best-selling Hefeweizen, will be brewed in Burlington." The proposed Magic Hat-Pyramid merger was quite a coincidence to me given that I flew back to Seattle last night after a week of East Coast beer drinking that included three Magic Hat selections. I tried the brewery's flagship beer, #9 (a pale ale with apricots which I enjoyed much more than other fruit beers I've had), the Midland Mild Ale (a 3.6% ale with a lot of flavor--a true "session" beer) and the Lucky Kat Pale Ale (my favorite of the three, a pale ale with a big malt presence but also a strong hop aroma and flavor thanks to dry hopping). It sounds like there's an excellent chance we may be seeing these beers in Seattle in the not-so-distant future. |
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Chris Devlin
Chris Devlin moved to Seattle from San Francisco in 2005. After a year of whining about the weather, he discovered the city's beer community. He's been drinking and blogging about it ever since. Some say he's obsessed with beer. He did try 375 beers in 2007 and spends all his vacation time on beer travels. You can find more of his writing at The Beer Retard.
Chris Devlin moved to Seattle from San Francisco in 2005. After a year of whining about the weather, he discovered the city's beer community. He's been drinking and blogging about it ever since. Some say he's obsessed with beer. He did try 375 beers in 2007 and spends all his vacation time on beer travels. You can find more of his writing at The Beer Retard.
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