Victory Brewing Sells to NY Firm

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Victory-southern

It’s true, Victory Brewing has sold out, kind of. My heart sank when I saw the headline on philly.com “Victory Brewing sells stake.” That sinking heart was to be expected after learning that Lagunitas Brewing sold out to Heineken, Elysian Brewing and Goose Island sold out to Anheuser-Busch. Large, corporate beverage companies have been snatching up solid craft breweries by making offers that the little guys simply can’t refuse.

These deals are making it harder for the independent craft breweries to compete and grow on a national level. So, when I saw Victory selling part of their company, I feared for the worst. I’m a fan of Victory’s Hop Devil, Prima Pils, Golden Monkey, Summer Love, basically anything they brew. Corporate hands controlling the destiny of Victory would be disastrous.

All is well, though, for now. Victory sold part of the company to a New York based private-equity firm called Artisanal Brewing Ventures. (ABV) that seems interested in continuing Victory’s ways. ABV recently acquired a stake in Southern Tier Brewing, as well. While ABV has some big beer executives running it, the fellas from Victory Bill Covaleski and Ron Barchet, will be on the ABV board so they’ll have a say in the running of the company.

These deals may be the only way the craft breweries can survive in a competitive industry where the big corporations are waging war on the smaller players. Dogfish Head recently made a similar deal with a different private-equity firm.

Southern Tier and Victory have access to much needed capital for expansion and are instantly a bigger player in th beer world by combining instead of competing against each other. Hopefully, the Southern Tier and Victory people on the board of directors have an equal say in business decisions going forward. One has to be worried about the future of these brands if they are left solely in the hands of guys from hedge funds and old big beer executives.

For now, a small sigh of relief. I’m still able to enjoy a Hop Devil on Phillies Opening Day.