• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • About Craft Brewing Business

Craft Brewing Business

Professional Insight, Unfiltered

  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • COVID-19

Lagunitas sells remaining 50% stake to Heineken, Tony Magee explains it in slightly less than 2,000 words

May 4, 2017Keith Gribbins

 

happy hog pig sleeping
This photo just seemed to fit.

No big surprises here. Lagunitas Brewing sells the rest of its company to the second biggest beer roll-up in the world, and Founder Tony Magee writes an exhausting blog explaining its merits. In that post (and I’m summarizing here), Magee explains in over 1,900+ words that he basically wants his beer brand to have an opportunity in every bar, fridge and community around the world. Now does that sound more noble or nefarious to you? From Lagunitas’ Tumblr page:

The revolution in brewing and in beer culture that began at 1705 Mariposa Street in San Francisco has metastasized to every corner of the world. Time is passing and recently a friend of mine sent me a picture of a tap handle that he saw while visiting CapeTown. The beer beneath the handle was called “Californication IPA”. Surely a compliment to the roots of things but, dammit, I wanna pour mine there next to it! Right? Not to crowd it out, just to be there to celebrate it and to participate. So it was time to get moving. I had a partner that would help me but the limits that we intentionally built into the Joint Venture partnership were becoming obstacles to progress with a now-trusted partner who wanted to give us the latitude to pursue these global opportunities.

No. Not to crowd it out. Never! [Cue Cobra Commander laugh.] But, yeah, metastasized is maybe the perfect Freudian slip here (via Dictionary.com):

Verb (used without object), metastasized, metastasizing.

  1. Pathology. (of malignant cells or disease-producing organisms) to spread to other parts of the body by way of the blood or lymphatic vessels or membranous surfaces.
  2. to spread injuriously: Street gangs have metastasized in our city.
  3. to transform, especially into a dangerous form: The KGB metastasized after the fall of the Soviet Union. Truth metastasized into lurid fantasy.

Anyway, Magee will take on a newly created role as global craft director for Heineken — where he will surely still have the time to dabble in heavy-handed metaphors like so:

Some who don’t fully understand it all may say it is selling out. Truth is that we did then, and are now ‘buying in’… Money has value and equity has value too. I am using Lagunitas’ equity to buy deeper into an organization that will help us go farther more quickly than we could have on our own. You hafta imagine Jonah standing on the gunnel of the storm-tossed ship and intentionally leaping into the mouth of the whale to embrace the transformation and emerge to become his own destiny.

What?

Read the whole post here, or better yet, don’t.

Lagunitas Brewing Co. Logo
Lagunitas Brewing lays off 12 percent of its workforce
Constellation’s busy week: invests $4 billion in cannabis company, maybe lays off craft team, announces Ballast Point restaurant in San Fran
Ballast Point sells for $1 billion, Anchor Brewing sells for $85 million. What’s the big difference?
Short's Brewing Silo
Michigan’s Short’s Brewing sells 19.99% equity stake to Lagunitas, which is owned by Heineken

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Constellation’s busy week: invests $4 billion in cannabis company, maybe lays off craft team, announces Ballast Point restaurant in San Fran says:
    August 16, 2018 at 11:46 am

    […] Ballast Point Brewery back in 2015. It was a benchmark moment (along with Lagunitas Brewing Co.’s two-part sale to Heineken) for the crazy amount large alcohol makers were willing to spend on the high-speed […]

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • Sustainable distilling: ReBru Spirits upcycles dated craft beer into spirits
  • Montclair Brewery fights racial injustice with Black is Beautiful proceeds
  • Beer rebrands continue: Ballast Point, Fremont, New Glory and Blue Point (also, enjoy some tips for your refresh)
  • Colorado Strong launches public awareness campaign to help independent breweries

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • Beer rebrands continue: Ballast Point, Fremont, New Glory and Blue Point (also, enjoy some tips for your refresh)
    January 21, 2021
  • virginia-beer-co-renovationHow Virginia Beer Co. used the shutdown to overhaul its facility (and keep people employed)
    January 19, 2021
  • Clean air, clean beer: New Ingersoll Rand oil-less reciprocating air compressors are ideal for breweries (aeration to canning)
    January 18, 2021
  • Non-alcoholic beer brand Athletic Brewing closes $17M+ in funding with famous backers, selects Crafted ERP, eyes big growth
    January 18, 2021
  • Watch: This awareness video on human trafficking from beer wholesaler Markstein Sales will move you to action
    January 14, 2021
  • Distribution updates: Massachusetts brewers celebrate franchise reform, Yuengling goes to Texas with Molson Coors and more from Bell’s, Stone and beyond
    January 14, 2021

Footer

  • Email Newsletter Sign Up
  • About Craft Brewing Business
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise on Craft Brewing Business
  • Media Kit Download
  • Privacy and Terms

© 2021 · CBB Media LLC

Continue ...

sponsored by