Livingstone's Ryan Buckley Talks Craft Beverage M&A with MiBiz

MiBiz editor Joe Boomgaard asked Livingstone Managing Director Ryan Buckley for his views on the changing retail landscape for craft beverage producers.

Ryan’s comments were featured in a recent issue of MiBiz:

On Western Michigan’s Booming Craft Beer Industry Grapples with Growth, Buckley explains:
“There’s a reason why they’re [regional craft brands] are not trading. It’s that the major players aren’t interested or they themselves are uninterested in pursuing a private equity partner or a strategic buyer…they want to remain independent…but they want to continue to grow and continue to support their brand and the market is forcing them to do so.”

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On As Consolidation Continues, Craft Brewers Worry About Access to Market, Buckley notes:
“There’s not a lot of industries out there that have 40-50 percent gross margins, 20-30 percent EBITDA margins, they’re growing double digits and they have industry tailwinds where the overall industry is growing at double-digit rates…It’s not a surprise that a lot of investment dollars are chasing it [the industry]…it’s just that craft beer has historically been a place that’s shunned outside investment. That, of course, has changed over the last two to three years.”

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On Rotation Nation: Pressured from Above and Below, Larger Craft Brewers Seek out their Place in the Market, Buckley highlights:
“The market evolution has proven to be particularly difficult for their “mid-level” or top 50 craft brewers that compete regionally and nationally…the majors are going to exercise their influence, and the local guys are just relevant…these mid-level guys are now having to revamp their business model a bit and hire more resources in different pockets of the country to support those brands a bit more.”

Click here to read full article.