E-Malt.com News article: USA: Fordham Brewing & Anheuser-Busch to acquire brewery

Fordham Brewing Co. has teamed up with Anheuser-Busch Inc. to buy Old Dominion Brewing Co. of Ashburn, Va., Baltimore Business Journal reported March 2.

Fordham Brewing Co. and minority partner Anheuser-Busch Inc. have formed a new joint venture, Coastal Brewing Co., to purchase the brewpub operator and brewer that distributes in the mid-Atlantic region. Fordham will have a 51 percent ownership and Anheuser-Busch a 49 percent stake in the partnership. Financial terms were not immediately available.

As part of the deal, Coastal Brewing Co. will assume ownership, sales and marketing responsibilities for both the Old Dominion and Fordham brands, including Dominion Ale, Dominion Lager, Oak Barrel Stout, Fordham Copperhead, Fordham Lager, Oyster Stout and others. Coastal Brewing Co. also assumes ownership of the Old Dominion brewery and Old Dominion Brewpub.

On April 1, Anheuser-Busch will distribute Old Dominion and Fordham brands, which will give the brands better access to retailers in the mid-Atlantic region, executives said.

Fordham Brewing Co. CEO Bill Muehlhauser, who also owns the area's Rams Head taverns, will become Coastal Brewing Co.'s managing partner. Coastal Brewing Co. has hired Scott Zetterstrom as a vice president of brewing operations to oversee brewing of the Old Dominion and Fordham brands. Zetterstrom previously served as head brewmaster for Old Dominion and most recently worked with Fordham as an independent brewing consultant. Coastal Brewing Co. also has hired Barry Newmiller as vice president of sales and marketing. Newmiller previously was a regional sales manager for InBev USA, a division of InBev S.A., a Brussels, Belgium-based global brewer whose brands include Stella Artois and Beck's.

Based in Annapolis, Fordham Brewing Co. was founded by Benjamin Fordham in 1703. In 2003, the company built a new brewer in Dover, Del.

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch brews Budweiser and Bud Light and accounts for more than 48 percent of U.S. beer sales. On Thursday, InBev S.A. took over the American brewery as the world's largest brewer in sales, according to a story in Bloomberg.

Anheuser-Busch also owns a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico's leading brewer, and a 27 percent share in Chinese brewer Tsingtao.


07 March, 2007