Why is 20 15 a historic year for craft beer industry?

20 15 is a milestone year for craft beer.

Most notably, the number of craft beer has exceeded the historical record set in 1873, reaching 4 100. With the rapid expansion of the industry, this year's beer brand merger tide has also set the tone for the future development of the industry, and will change the overall face of the industry in the coming year.

20 16, M&A tide will sweep the craft beer industry. Coincidentally, the merger of the two beer giants will have the biggest impact on the small brand beer so far. Belgian Budweiser InBev wants to acquire British SABMiller Brewing Company for $654.38+007 billion. Although the merger case has not yet been settled, its impact has been considerable. The industry predicts that this merger will create an overall distribution system and will have a long-term impact on the whole industry, although this impact may not be obvious in the short term. In 20 15 years, the beer industry has experienced numerous mergers and acquisitions, and the merger of two beer giants is only the most representative behavior.

Let's take a look at the big mergers and acquisitions in the beer industry this year:

65438+1On October 23rd, Anheuser-Busch InBev acquired Elysee Brewing;

On March 9th, private equity firm Encore Consumer Capital acquired Full Sail Brewing.

On May 22nd, Oscar Bruce Brewery sold most of its shares to Fei Erman Capital Partners.

On July 17, Firestone Firestone Walker and Duvel Moortgat jointly operated;

165438+1October16, the ballast point was purchased by constellation brand;

On September 8, Lagu Nitas Beer Company sold 50% of the ownership shares to Heineken Group;

10 September, St. Archer was acquired by MillerCoors.

On September 23rd, Anheuser-Busch InBev acquired Jinlu Brewery;

18 February 18, Sifeng Brewing, the largest craft beer brand in Arizona, USA, was sold to Budweiser InBev.

Of course, there will be more small mergers and acquisitions in 20 15, which can guarantee that the wave of mergers and acquisitions in 20 16 will continue to appear. Because the market share of craft beer is increasing, at the same time, beer brands of all sizes will begin to position themselves in a broader and longer-term development position. In fact, Reuters has reported before that the employee-owned New Belgium Brewing asked Lazard Middle Market, a subsidiary of Reed Group, to act as a matchmaker to find buyers, and proposed a purchase price of more than $654.38+$0 billion.

"Craft beer has developed to a stage, and small-brand beer has now become a really good business, and enterprises inside and outside the industry have shown great interest in it." Bart Watson, an industry economist at the Brewers Association, said.

Brewery owners either want to get rid of the existing industry and seek development outside the industry, or seek better future development space for the enterprise. These two motives contributed to the vast majority of mergers and acquisitions this year. Big brand beer companies have also become more active, and private equity companies have shown more interest in this field.

Then, maybe we should ask the question, what will be the driving force of 20 16 M&A?

This largely depends on the progress of the merger of Anheuser-Busch InBev and Saab Miller. If the transaction goes as expected, Molson Coors will take over Saab Miller's business in the US market, so the company will receive much attention.

"So far, Mason Kangsheng has only made one acquisition, but this newly established company is likely to invest in different ways." Watson said.

If so, Mason Kangsheng will compete with Anheuser-Busch. Although Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser beer didn't focus on craft beer in 20 15, it continued to invest in and acquire highly acclaimed (and popular) craft beer factories instead of launching its own craft beer products. The joint venture company formed by Miller and Kang Sheng is currently facing a situation of reduced income. In order to break the deadlock, it may be more active to acquire craft breweries in the future.

The situation of private equity firms is more complicated. Although some companies have invested a lot of capital in wineries, they have not yet been divested. In addition, private equity firms' interest in investment may gradually cool down before they figure out whether this kind of investment behavior is worthwhile.

Entering 20 16, one thing deserves our special attention, that is, the purchase price of the craft beer industry these days. Constellation Company spent $654.38+0 billion to acquire Balastre Point Company. At the same time, although the inside story of Heineken's acquisition of Lagunitas was not disclosed to the outside world, the Wall Street Journal had previously estimated that the market value of this winery in California was $800 million.

When brand influence is included in the transaction cost, such a transaction is likely to go wrong. But a large number of interested sellers-especially those "famous" craft beer brands-are becoming quite superficial. Therefore, potential buyers may need to spend more money to attract them to join. Therefore, even if the total number of M&A transactions in craft beer industry decreases in 20 16 years, the total value of M&A transactions may actually increase.

"This is the current supply and demand situation in the market," Watson said. "The vast majority (breweries that were originally interested in selling) became hesitant because of rumors."