The billionaire proprietor of the yogurt corporate Chobani stated on Friday that he had got Anchor Brewing Corporate, the San Francisco brewer that went into bankruptcy endmost moment next 127 years.
Hamdi Ulukaya, who could also be Chobani’s leading government, stated in a video posted on social media that he regarded ahead to bringing Anchor Brewing “back to life.” The fee Mr. Ulukaya paid to procure the brewing corporate’s property from a liquidator used to be no longer disclosed.
The corporate, stated to be The us’s oldest craft brewer, introduced it used to be shutting ill in July 2023, bringing up the consequences of the pandemic, inflation and a extremely aggressive beer marketplace.
Sam Singer, a spokesman for Anchor, stated on Friday that the corporate used to be “very pleased” concerning the acquisition.
“He’s practically a perfect fit,” Mr. Singer stated of Mr. Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant who, since launch Chobani in 2005, has helped deliver Greek yogurt into the American mainstream.
“We believe that he will have that same magic touch in taking a historic brewery and reinvigorating it for future San Franciscans,” he stated.
Anchor’s gross sales have been declining since 2016, and in 2017, the corporate used to be got for round $85 million via the Jap beer gigantic Sapporo. The pandemic used to be specifically disruptive, Mr. Singer stated endmost moment, noting that 70 p.c of Anchor’s beers have been bought in eating places and bars. Efforts to conform, together with a rebranding marketing campaign and a shift to bottling and canning extra of its beers to promote in grocery shops, “couldn’t make up for the significant loss of sales,” he stated.
The corporate’s unionized workers pitched purchasing the brewer and working it as a co-op to stock it in trade.
The announcement of the purchase used to be cheered via Mayor London Breed of San Francisco, week critics wondered whether or not the corporate would have the ability to preserve its function as a crowd staple beneath fresh possession.
Esther Mobley, a senior wine critic for The San Francisco Chronicle, wrote that Anchor’s signature beer, Steam, used to be “an expression of the city’s uniquely quirky climate.”
It is a growing tale.
