Maybe in 20 years time we’ll be able to sit down with Camden Town Brewery’s Jasper Cuppaidge and get him to tell us how it felt to sell to AB-InBev.
By then, we’ll also know whether the deal worked out as per the utopian vision of the public statements…
We’ll be getting more capital to expand programmes like barrel-aging. You only have to look at Goose Island barrel-aging programme and you’ll see more innovation, more brands and even better beer.
…or as per the bell-tolling of the doubters, such as Keith Flett:
My guess would be that aside from accountants looking for the usual synergies they’ll leave Camden Town alone for the time being until someone not involved in the current deal appears at AB-InBev and wonders why the acquisition was made and what should be done with it.
But, for the moment, we have to look at the experience of other brewers, and entrepreneurs in other sectors, to get an idea of what might be going on behind the handshakes and the cheery press releases.
1. More Mixed Feelings
In 1988 David Bruce sold his chain of Firkin brewpubs for £8m. (That’s about £20m in today’s money.) It had always been his goal to be a millionaire by 40 which, even after paying off various bills, he more than achieved. But the cash in his pockets and the free time he’d acquired didn’t stop him fretting about what Allied-Domecq were doing to his brand. Appalled by their reckless over-stretching of the gimmick, and by its rapid plunge down-market, he even considered buying it back. He has never said ‘Selling up was the worse decision of my life’ or anything like that but, clearly, it came with some pain, and wealth certainly didn’t cure him of the itch to start and run businesses. As of 2015, has still failed to retire, despite repeated declarations of his intention to do so.