Oskar Blues Acquired by Makers of Monster Energy Drink

Monster Beverage Corporation entered the beer business for the first time on Thursday. The energy drink maker announced the acquisition of CANarchy Collective, the parent company of Oskar Blues Brewery in an all cash deal. The deal is worth $330 million and will take effect at the end of the first quarter. Oskar Blues and the other members of the CANarchy collective will continue to function independently of Monster.

Headquartered in Longmont, Colorado, Oskar Blues has a production facility and taproom in North Austin. Other CANarchy brands include Dallas’ Deep Ellum, Cigar City in Tampa, Perrin Brewing in Michigan, as well as Utah breweries Wasatch and Squatters. The Brewers Association has ruled that the CANarchy members will retain their status as independent breweries.

Per the latest press statement:

CANarchy meets the Brewers Association’s craft brewer definition under the ownership of Monster Energy as presently constituted. In this instance, Monster is not a beverage alcohol industry member, so this new ownership structure does not affect CANarchy’s independence in regard to the beverage alcohol industry. The Brewers Association defines small and independent craft brewers as:

• Small: Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3 percent of U.S. annual sales). Beer production is attributed to a brewer according to rules of alternating proprietorships.
• Independent: Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by a beverage alcohol industry member that is not itself a craft brewer.
• Brewer: Has a TTB Brewer’s Notice and makes beer.