KPS Capital Partners has signed a definitive agreement to sell its portfolio company, North American Breweries, to Cerveceria Costa Rica, a subsidiary of Florida Ice and Farm, for USD388m in cash.
NAB is one of the largest independently owned beer companies in the US and the owner of a diverse portfolio of brands including Labatt, Genesee, Seagram’s Escapes, Magic Hat, Pyramid, the Original Honey Brown Lager, Dundee and MacTarnahan’s.
NAB operates four breweries and seven retail locations located in New York, Vermont, California, Oregon and Washington.
KPS formed NAB in February 2009 as a platform for investments and growth in the North American 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 (now known as the Genesee Brewing); and a perpetual license for the Seagram’s Escapes and Seagram’s Smooth brands from Pernod Ricard USA.
In 2010, NAB acquired Independent Brewers United, one of the largest craft brewers in the US, and owner of the Magic Hat, Pyramid and MacTarnahan’s brand families of craft beer.
Raquel Palmer, a partner of KPS, says: "In forming NAB, KPS did not buy or invest in a company; rather we created a new company that became one of the largest and fastest growing independent beer companies in the US. NAB is a complete validation of the KPS investment strategy of seeing value where others do not, buying right, making businesses better and creating value for our investors. We take immense pride in what NAB has accomplished.
"We congratulate and thank the NAB management team for their extraordinary tactical execution of our vision, which resulted in the company’s significant revenue growth year after year and the eventual acquisition by a leading international strategic buyer."
Completion of the transaction, which is expected in the fourth quarter, is subject to customary closing conditions.
