Lagunitas Craft Beer Brand To Be Owned Entirely By Heineken
By Anthony Todd in Food on May 4, 2017 4:50PM
(Photo: Lagunitas Taproom's Facebook)
Yet another craft beer brand has become part of a huge company. On Tuesday morning, Tony Magee, the founder of Lagunitas, announced that he was selling the company to Heineken.
The Tribune has the details on the sale. Magee previously sold a 50 percent stake in the company to Heineken in 2015, but now he's selling the rest and Lagunitas will become wholly-owned by the Dutch beer company. Magee will become "global craft director" for Heineken, which probably means more acquisition is coming for that giant.
This is just a part of a much larger trend of consolidation in the craft beer world. Just Wednesday, Anheuser-Busch announced it was buying Wicked Weed brewing in North Carolina. Miller Coors recently bought Revolver Brewing, Hop Valley Brewing Company and Terrapin. Anheuser has purchased at least ten different craft breweries in the past few years.
In 2014, Lagunitas built a huge brewing facility in Chicago, instantly becoming the largest brewer in the city.
No numbers were released related to the sale, but the original 50 percent stake was supposedly worth nearly $500 million, so Magee likely had a pretty good payday.