FORT COLLINS, Colo. — After nearly 30 years as one of Fort Collins' locally-owned, homegrown breweries, New Belgium Brewing Co. is being sold to a global craft beverage company with ties to Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Lion Little World Beverages will acquire 100% of New Belgium in an all-cash transaction that is expected to close by the end of the year, pending approvals by regulators and New Belgium's employee stock ownership plan, according to a press release sent Tuesday.
Little World Beverages is a global craft arm of Lion, an Australian beverage and food company that is a subsidiary of Japanese beverage giant Kirin.
Neither Lion Little World Beverages nor New Belgium is disclosing the sale price for the nation's fourth-largest craft brewer, or any other terms of the deal.
Once inked, the acquisition will mean New Belgium is no longer employee-owned, New Belgium co-founder Kim Jordan said in an open letter.
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