AB InBev continues to expand its reach into the craft brewing sector by acquiring 100% of Sydney, Australia based craft brewery 4 Pines Brewing Company through its subsidiary ZX Ventures. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The Craft Brewery was established in 2008 by Jaron Mitchell and his father Steve Mitchell in Manly, a beach-side suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. In 2011 the company opened a new brewing facility in Brookvale, just 6 km away from the old facility with 50hL brewery and bottling line and a small small batch Keller Door 5hL brewery. In early 2014 they expanded the company's Brookdale facility and last year 4 Pines sold already about 80,000 hl of beer all across Australia. The brewery has currently 3 venues (The Brew Pub Manly, Truck Bar Brookvale, Public House Newport ) with a fourth (Beer&Bread Melrose) coming soon.
According to the breweries website, “everyone keeps their job” and “the founders and all the key people are hanging around.” Mitchell and his team hope that the takeover will help 4 Pines to “be part of the global forefront of beer innovation.” In addition “the Brookvale brewery will be expanding its capacity in the very near future” and “4 Pines has already started developing plans for national and global expansion.”
Jan Craps, President of AB InBev’s Asia Pacific South Zone, said he was incredibly excited to be partnering with 4 Pines. “Anyone who knows Jaron and the 4 Pines team know they do things differently, which is why we were so interested in teaming up with them.”
“4 Pines brewers will continue to make beer from their breweries on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, and continue doing what they do best – having fun making some of the world’s best and most outstanding beers,” Jan Craps said. “We will support their ambitious plans for the future, using our expertise and capability to help them get their exceptional beer to more people in Australia and globally.”
After having bought 10 craft breweries in the United States in the last 6 years, which are managed by AB InBev’s High End division, AB InBev just recently announced to stop buying further craft breweries in the United States (inside.beer, 7.9.2017). Nevertheless, the international expansion will go on and the latest deal marks another milestone in an attempt to create a worldwide net of craft beer breweries, mainly through AB InBev’s global disruptive growth group ZX Ventures.
Within the last 12 years AB InBev or one of its subsidiaries bought the following craft breweries:
Bogota Beer Company, Bogotá/Colombia (Feb. 2015, through Ambev), Cervejaria Wäls, Belo Horizonte/Brazil (May 2015, through Ambev); Cervejaria Colorado, Columbia (Jul. 2015, through Ambev), Mills Street Brewery, Toronto/Canada (Oct. 2015, through Labatt Breweries of Canada), Cervecería Tijuana, Tijuana/Mexico (Aug. 2015, through Grupo Modelo); Cervecería Mexicana, Tecate/Mexico (Aug. 2015, through Grupo Modelo); Cervecería de Baja California Cucapá), Mexicali/Mexico (Aug. 2015, through Grupo Modelo); Cervecería Bocanegra Mexico (Aug. 2015, through Grupo Modelo); Camden Town Brewery, London/UK (Dec. 2015, through ZX Ventures); Microbrasserie Archibald, Quebec/Canada (Apr. 2016, through Labatt Breweries of Canada), Birra del Borgo, Rome/Italy (Apr. 2016, through ZX Ventures); Brouwerij Bosteels, Buggenhout/Belgium (Sep. 2016, through ZX Ventures, inside.beer, 9.9.2016); La Virgen, Madrid/Spain (Jan. 2017, through ZX Ventures) (inside.beer, 12.1.2017), Boxing Cat Brewery, Shanghai/China (Mar. 2017, through ZX Ventures, inside.beer, 4.3.2017) and 4 Pines Brewing Co., Sydney/Australia (Sep. 2017, through ZX Ventures).
