Aphria agrees to pay at least three hundred million for longtime Atlanta brewer. Brewer is known for a beer that smells and tastes like pot without a cannabis buzz. After that Aphria stock jumped more than 10%.
Aphria Inc. jumps into the United States with the purchase of a craft-beer company that has been a part of stoners’ lifestyles for decades.
The Canadian cannabis company announced that it plans to acquire Sweetwater Brewing Co. of Atlanta for at least three hundred million dollars. Thus, it will marry a long-service craft brewer known for its 420-labeled beer with the pot industry. Yet, Sweetwater does not make a drink with a cannabis buzz. Nevertheless, the companies seemed to suggest that could be in the offing as the two sides want to leverage Sweetwater’s contacts in the Apria’s and United States cannabis ties. This is to find potential benefits to the coupling.
Freddy Bensch is Sweetwater founded and chief executive. On Wednesday, he made an announcement. Bensch said that SweetWater 420 Fest and their 420 offerings complement Aphria’s cannabis business. Thus, it creates mutual opportunities for accelerated expansion into other cannabis- and beverage-related products in Canada and the United States.
Aphria History
Bensch founded the company in 1997 and will remain as a CEO there. It was long before an explosion in craft breweries, especially in the home state company of Georgia. Sweetwater will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aphria. Thus, it will keep its hundred and twenty-five employees on staff. That is what companies said.
Following the announcement, Aphria shares jumped more than ten percent in after-hours trading. The stock has fared better than the other pot companies of late. So far this year, it lost 3.8% as the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF lost 27.7%.
Pot companies and brewers have found each other before. It is because legal cannabis becomes a part of life in Canada. The United States Constellation Brands Inc. is a prominent investor in Canopy Growth Corp. Thus, it has worked with the company to develop and manufacture cannabis drink for the Canadian market. Molson Coors has formed a joint venture with Hexo Corp. Nevertheless, that deal appears to be different. It is because Canadian pot company swallows a smaller United States beer company, instead of a large drinks conglomerate investing in marijuana.
Aphria has the plan to pay two hundred and fifty million dollars in cash and another fifty million dollars in stock for the craft brewer.
That is current news about craft-beer maker Sweetwater.
