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KPS
CAPITAL PARTNERS PORTFOLIO COMPANY
NORTH AMERICAN BREWERIES, INC. ACQUIRES INDEPENDENT BREWERS UNITED, INC.
New
York, NY
(August 11, 2010) – KPS Capital Partners, LP (“KPS”) today announced that
its portfolio company North American Breweries, Inc. ("NAB”) has
acquired Independent Brewers United, Inc. (“IBU”) through an indirect,
wholly owned subsidiary. The acquisition
is the fourth by NAB since its formation.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
IBU is one of the largest craft
brewers in the United States, and its Magic Hat brand has been one of the
fastest-growing craft brewers every year since 2005. The company produces, markets and sells
the complete line of the Pyramid, Magic Hat and MacTarnahan's brand
families of beer. IBU operates
three state-of-the-art breweries and six retail locations located in
Vermont, California, Oregon and Washington.
KPS
formed NAB in February 2009 as a North American platform for investments
and growth in the beer and malt beverage industries. At that time, KPS also announced NAB’s
first three acquisitions: Labatt USA from a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch
InBev; substantially all of the assets of High Falls Brewing Company, LLC
(brewer of the Genesee, Honey Brown and Dundee family of beers); and a
perpetual license for the Seagram’s Escapes and Seagram’s Smooth brands
from Pernod Ricard USA, LLC.
Raquel Palmer, a Partner at KPS,
said, “Our strategy at NAB is to grow organically as well as through
strategic acquisition. We have reviewed
numerous potential acquisition opportunities over the past year, and IBU
was clearly the best strategic fit for NAB. For the past six years the craft
segment has been the fastest-growing beer category in the United States. We believe IBU’s craft brands,
especially Pyramid and Magic Hat, with their authenticity and heritage,
are highly complementary to NAB's current product portfolio. In addition, IBU's significant West
Coast presence through Pyramid and MacTarnahan’s greatly expands NAB's
footprint, while Magic Hat solidifies NAB’s strong presence in the
Northeast.”
Richard Lozyniak, Chief
Executive Officer of NAB, said, “NAB has experienced tremendous success
with our existing brands over the past year, and we are extremely excited
about adding Magic Hat, Pyramid and MacTarnahan’s to our family of
beers. We have extraordinary
respect for the great heritage of these breweries and for the high
quality beer they have brought to their consumers over many years. We are impressed with the growth IBU
has achieved to date, and our plan is to continue to grow these brands while
maintaining a commitment to their heritage and superior quality. NAB now has leading brands in every
segment of the beer and malt beverage market, four significant breweries
strategically located on the East and West Coasts and an energized and
committed workforce. As always, we are grateful to our consumers,
distributors, suppliers and employees for their contribution to our
success.”
NAB
was represented by John Cox and Peter Rosenbaum at Jenner & Block LLP.
About
North American Breweries, Inc.
Headquartered
in Rochester, New York, North American Breweries, Inc. is a national
platform for investments and growth in the beer and malt beverage
industries. Formed in 2009, North American Breweries owns Genesee Brewing
Company, one of the largest and oldest continually operating breweries in
the United States, and is the exclusive marketer and seller of Labatt
brand beer and Seagram's Escapes in the United States. The company’s
brands include the complete line of Labatt beers, including the flagship
pilsner Labatt Blue and Labatt Blue Light; the Genesee line, the Original
Honey Brown Lager and Dundee Ales & Lagers; and Seagram’s Escapes. It
is also America's exclusive distributor of Imperial from Costa Rica and a
manufacturer of beer and other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages under
contracts on behalf of other companies. North American Breweries is a
portfolio company of KPS Capital Partners, LP. For more information about
North American Breweries, please visit www.nabreweries.com.
About
Independent Brewers United, Inc.
Headquartered in Burlington,
Vermont, Independent Brewers United, Inc. is one of the largest craft
brewers in the United States. Through its subsidiaries, IBU
produces, markets and sells the complete line of the Pyramid, Magic Hat
and MacTarnahan's brand families of beer. IBU operates three
breweries and six retail locations in Vermont, California, Oregon and
Washington. Additional information on IBU's brands can be found at www.pyramidbrew.com, www.magichat.net and www.macsbeer.com.
About
KPS Capital Partners, LP
KPS
Capital Partners, LP is the manager of the KPS Special Situations Funds,
a family of private equity funds with over $2.6 billion of committed
capital focused on constructive investing in restructurings, turnarounds
and other special situations. KPS has created new companies to purchase
operating assets out of bankruptcy; established stand-alone entities to
operate divested assets; and recapitalized highly leveraged public and
private companies. The KPS investment strategy targets companies with
strong franchises that are experiencing operating and financial problems.
KPS invests its capital concurrently with a turnaround plan predicated on
cost reduction, capital investment and capital availability. Typically,
the KPS turnaround plan is accompanied by a financial restructuring of
the company's liabilities. The KPS investment strategy and portfolio
companies are described in detail at the firm's website: www.kpsfund.com.
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