Balter, the King of Beers!
In business-slash-surf news, three-timer champ Mick Fanning has sold the beer label he started in 2016 with pals Bede Durbidge, Josh Kerr, Sean Ronan, Joel Parkinson, Mick Fanning, Stirling Howland, Scott Hargraves and Ant Macdonald to Carlton United Breweries for a rumoured two-hundred mill.
Two hundred mill?
Ooowee, that’s a little a rich for a company that brewed four million litres last year, yeah?
Aren’t the press releases saying an “undisclosed amount”?
That’s the figure kicking around CUB, the iconic Australian brewer that was bought by Japan’s Asahi for $16 billion in 2016, according to an employee.
In response, I figured he meant twenty but he hit me back on a text, real quick, no, two hundred.
Two years ago, Joel Parkinson was quoted somewhere, still looking for that story, saying they wouldn’t sell for under two-hundred mill as there were 46 investors involved in getting the thing off the ground.
Still, I couldn’t bring myself to put that figure in a headline, hence “many, many millions”, which, I think, will prove to be accurate when the amount is released in a few days.
According to Radio Brew News,
“We’ve been the subject of so many buyout rumours since the very first day we started, and we’ve been sold probably 50 or so times already. It just turns out that the 51st time is actually true,” he said.
The team explained that the deal with CUB came about as a result of Balter’s exponential growth, and that its plans to grow further in the coming years required a capital injection.
“A number of factors came into play for us,” explained Howland.
“We’ve been going at a pretty crazy trajectory for a number of years now, It’s been a wonderful ride but it definitely a ride that hasn’t just been smooth sailing.
“We’ve got a hard-working engine in this business and if you rev the engine for a long period of time it can take its toll.”
He said that discussions had begun after the GABS Hottest 100 in January, when the Balter team were approached by CUB.
“We talked amongst ourselves about what it would mean.
“When you’re under the pressure that the team is, to be able to relieve that was an enticing opportunity for us.
“We’ve built this brand into something that Aussies really love and we’ve got a staff here that are the backbone and the underpinning of all that.
“We had to delve deep into what it meant for all those things and whether they’d be compromised or not.”
He said that the business was launched with the help of 46 friends and family, and along with securing the future of its staff at the business, paying their early supporters back was a key consideration in the decision making process.
“We’ve had friends and family invest in Balter since day one, when we were just an idea on paper. Without those 46 friends and family none of this would have got off the ground the way it has.
“For some of them, it was their life savings which was pretty nerve wracking for us.
“For us to be able to sit here today and be able to say we didn’t mess it up, it’s a pretty good feeling.”
When it comes to staff, Balter’s sales team will remain in place and its more than 60 existing staff have their jobs secured when it comes to the deal, said the team.
Macdonald said that the deal needed to be a “win-win” for everyone.
“We’ve been contacted for years from all multinationals and other independents and we never really entertained it,” he said.
“Nothing ever ticked all the boxes from an investor and employee perspective.
“A lot of people think the boys chipped in millions to start with but that didn’t happen, we’re the same as any other business.
“It takes a lot of money to continue to run a business at this pace, sometimes you’ve got to step back and really understand the risk, and we’ve taken a lot of risk on this business,” Macdonald explained.
He said that the deal with CUB was about futureproofing the business.
“The partnership we’ve formed with CUB [allows us to hold onto] our integrity.
“We talk a lot about de-risking the business, that’s a really important thing moving forward.
“There’s a lot of saturation in the market at the moment, there’s a lot of micro and macro economic pressures on the economy, our forecast for the next two years weren’t as buoyant as they were a year ago.
“If we can achieve all our goals as senior management, still brew the beer here, execute the brand we want and be able to pay back our family and friends and protect our staff it’s a win-win for everyone and we’re excited to grow Balter further in the future.”
Listen here.
Is there any doubt he’ll be Aus PM someday?
Their stuff is pretty pricey
As a homebrewer with some pretty decent brewing skills (much better than my surfing skills!) I did the thing that all homebrewers do and wondered if I could monetise that hobby. I didn’t have to run many numbers to realise that was a really shit idea.
The balter folk got out lucky. For every success story in the beer business you have a few dozen nightmares tipping the scales way the other direction. Might as well take that investment money to the roulette table and save yourself a while lot of time and hassle.
Like Gambling …… We only talk about the wins .
It wasn’t luck it was good marketing, which was what the business was based around
The weird thing about this is that if Balter Beer disappeared tomorrow, customers wouldn’t give two shits.
Bullshit
Except for Marcusvr, apparently
Smart – getting the big money from a big brand before an absolute over saturation of craft beers like in the U.S. Constellation just sold Ballast Point after over-paying at $1B a few years ago. Constellation has taken huge losses and almost certainly sold at a major loss.
That should be $16 billion for CUB
Sixteen mill would’ve been quite the bargain.
Never heard of it.
I spose if you washed all that coke money thru the biz it would look good to an accountant
Guinness founded a beer brand called Rockshore in 2018 which is very popular here. Why do I mention it? Well have a look for yourself at the marketing and see if you think it is more than a little bit “inspired” by balter. From the can to to the faux surfing marketing – showing douche bags from Dublin frolicking on the beautiful west coast of this island. I don’t know the legality’s of beer marketing, but I’d hazard a guess that Rockshore are sailing close to the wind on this one!
Cash Rules Everything Around Me, Dolla Dolla bill y’all
I am fucking devastated that the Japanese own CUB. Kill me now.
Start brewing. I scab all mums. She’s getting good. Thinking of getting stickers, “Mums piss and yeast” and waiting for the cheque’s to roll in.
So what.
Most of the Shabu is chinese.
Still gets you off.
Japanese CUBs now making Victorians Bitter . It was much more fun when this bloke was in charge …. ? PIG’S ARSE
https://youtu.be/lyI5LfoBzj4
As rich as their alcohol content. If I wanna get fucked up I drink gin. If I want beer I drink beer, not beer with metho added. Good on em though.