Broo Ltd., a young Australian beer company, has announced it will buy Mildura Brewery from Mildura/Victoria for A$1 million (US$ 0.77m). Since the initial public offering on Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in October 2016, Broo was seeking a production facility for their two beers Broo Premium Lager and Australia Draught which are distributed throughout Victoria and New South Wales. The acquisition will be completed on 28 February 2017 subject to liquor licenses being in place.
Mildura Brewery is in operation since December 2004 and was one of the first craft and contract breweries in Australia. With an estimated capacity of 10,000 hl the company produces several own beers and acts as a contract brewer for others.
With the acquisition of Mildura, Broo can immediately start its own beer production, having the necessary capacity to start national distribution. The beer is currently being produced at Icon Brewing in Sydney.
“This facility will significantly reduce current production costs in turn providing increased profitability across sales of existing brands,” the company said in a statement.
Broo founder Kent Grogan said the deal was “in line with the company’s domestic growth strategy with additional sites currently being evaluated for further expansion. The acquisition of the Mildura Brewery pub venue also provides Broo with an exciting extension of our existing business by providing a micro-brewery hospitality venue for Broo to showcase and realise retail margins for its beer products.”
The announcement follows two other similar acquisitions of craft breweries in Australia and New Zealand. On February 1, Dixon Hospitality Group announced the acquisition of Hawthorn Brewing Company. One day earlier New Zealand’s DB Breweries informed about the purchase of Tuatara Brewing Company from Wellington/New Zealand.
