Eugene Oregon’s Ninkasi Brewing, one of the nation’s largest craft brewing operations has announced the sale of its business to Legacy Breweries, an investment venture headed by Yakima Chief- Hopunion LLC CEO Don Bryant.
Most craft beer fans have likely never heard of Legacy Breweries, but let me first calm your suspicions and relieve the possible spike in blood pressure by explaining that this buyout is not what it might initially seem like. Ninkasi hasn’t sold out to big beer or anything like that. Legacy Breweries is, in fact, similar in structure and strategy to Canarchy, the investment collective that owns Oskar Blues, Utah Brewers Cooperative, Cigar City Brewing, Deep Ellum, Perrin Brewing, and Three Weavers. The collective strategy has worked well for Canarchy and its member breweries and there is no reason that it cannot also work for Legacy Breweries.
Jamie Floyd and Nikos Ridge, the two men who founded Ninkasi Brewing in 2006, will still maintain a significant ownership in their brewery. Legacy Breweries will own the majority of Ninkasi and with the added financial leverage provided by this upstart investment operation, they will be able to help Ninkasi grow and expand its reach at a faster pace and in ways that would have been extremely difficult before.
According to Bryant, Legacy Breweries plans to acquire additional breweries in the Midwest and the Eastern United States. The investment firm is targeting breweries similar in size to Ninkasi, which shipped over 90,000 barrels in 2018. Similar to what Canarchy has accomplished, Legacy Breweries hopes to assemble a portfolio of breweries that have a market edge in specific areas and are complimentary to each other. Once Legacy secures a few larger, regional breweries, the plan is to then look to add another dozen or so smaller breweries to the family. The synergy created by such an arrangement should help all of the breweries reach new levels of success.
Legacy Breweries has access to a massive pool of capital. A family office known as Blue Ocean is supplying part of the funds. The rest is coming from EPR properties, a real estate investment trust that controls billions of dollars in real estate, including more than 150 Megaplex theaters and 32 Top Golf locations. EPR plans to continue partnering with Legacy Breweries and will take part in future craft brewery acquisitions.
Ridge will continue to serve as Ninkasi Brewing CEO following the sale and will remain focused on Ninkasi brands.
Very interesting…