Beer giant to buy remaining stake in Kona Brewing Co. parent

Kona Brewing Co. is slated to become wholly owned by beer behemoth Anheuser-Busch under a deal announced Monday.

Anheuser-Busch, which owns 31.2% of Kona Brewing’s Portland, Ore.-based parent Craft Brew Alliance, has agreed to buy the remaining 68.8% of stock for $16.50 per share in cash, which represents a premium over Monday’s closing price of $7.33 a share.

The roughly $223 million deal is touted by both companies as promoting continued investment and growth of Craft Brew brands that include Kona Brewing and seven smaller beer and cider makers.

Craft Brew was created in 2008 with the merger of two Pacific Northwest craft brewers: Widmer Brothers Brewing and Redhook Ale Brewery. Kona Brewing, which was founded in 1994 on Hawaii island, joined the alliance in 2010 through an $18 million purchase and became Craft Brew’s biggest brand by far.

Last year Kona Brewing — with its marketing tag line “liquid aloha” — represented more than half the production output shipped by Craft Brew: 456,300 barrels out of 719,400. The next-biggest brand was Widmer Brothers at 98,700 barrels.

Under the Anheuser- Busch buyout, Craft Brew brands would become part of Anheuser-Busch’s own collection of more than a dozen craft brewery brands, including 10 Barrel, Elysian, Four Peaks, Golden Road and Goose Island.

Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser, said it has invested more than $130 million in its collection of craft breweries over the last three years and helped them expand production volume by 31% on average.

“CBA’s diverse portfolio of regional breweries and innovative lifestyle brands is an excellent complement to our family of craft partners and would continue to help fuel the growth of the craft beer category,” Marcelo “Mika” Michaelis, president of Anheuser- Busch’s Brewers Collective unit, said in a statement.

Craft Brew representatives said there is no immediate expansion initiative made possible by the Anheuser-Busch acquisition. But they expect general continued investment and growth of Kona Brewing and its other brands.

Andy Thomas, Craft Brew CEO, in a statement described the acquisition as an “exciting next step in a long and successful partnership with Anheuser- Busch.”

Cameron Healy, who founded Kona Brewing with son Spoon Khalsa, said in a statement that he’s excited to see where the company goes next under Anheuser- Busch control.

“Kona Brewing Company has enjoyed a positive partnership with Anheuser- Busch for the past 17 years through our affiliation with Craft Brew Alliance, and I expect the relationship to continue prospering under this new structure for years to come,” he said.

As part of its existing relationship, Anheuser-Busch distributes and brews Craft Brew beverages under contractual agreements. Craft Brew also has its own breweries.

All canned and bottled Kona Brewing beers are brewed at mainland breweries while the company’s kegged beer sold in Hawaii is brewed on Hawaii island.

One major delayed but ongoing Kona Brewing expansion project is a 100,000- barrel brewery being built in Kailua-Kona to replace the company’s existing 14,000- barrel brewery. This $20 million project, which began four years ago, is expected to be finished early next year.