The Carlsberg Group of Denmark is buying Waterloo Brewing Ltd. now based in Kitchener.
The all-cash deal is worth $144-million and needs shareholder approval. They are offered $4 per share, about 20 per cent above the current market price.
Jim Brickman founded the business in1984 as Brick Brewing and was Ontario’s first craft brewery. It struggled through imbalances in production, storage and distribution and emerged as a profitable competitor.
Operations moved from the main street in Waterloo to an industrial area in Kitchener and where it produces Laker beer, LandShark Lager, various Seagram’s-branded products, as well as its Waterloo Brewing lineup. Until mid-2019, the company was known as Brick Brewing Co. Ltd.
It is the second time this year that a Danish brewer has agreed to purchase a Canadian beer producer. In July, Royal Unibrew bought Toronto-based Amsterdam Brewery in a deal valued at $44-million.
Waterloo’s TSX-listed stock has lost more than half its value over the past 18 months, falling more than 57 per cent from a mid-2021 high of $7.88 per share to $3.35 per share as of Wednesday’s market close. The company’s total market value as of Wednesday’s close was roughly $120-million.
George H. Croft, who has been president and CEO of Waterloo Brewing since 2008, said in an interview that it was too early to determine what sort of role he will play at the new company.
