Cannabis company to buy Texas' Revolver Brewing from MillerCoors
Tilray Brands is closing in on a few other breweries, too.
Visit any Texas supermarket or beverage emporium and one is bound to stumble upon cans of beer from Revolver Brewing. The brand founded in Granbury, about 40 miles southwest of Fort Worth, is one of the state's most successful names in beer, and it now is likely to have a new owner.
Tilray Brands announced Aug. 13 that it has come to a definitive agreement to purchase Revolver and three other well-known beer brands from Molson Coors Beverage Company. The other brands are Atwater Brewery out of Detroit; Hop Valley Brewing Company in Eugene, Ore.; and Terrapin Beer Co. of Athens, Ga. Terms of the deal are unknown, and the transaction is likely to close by the end of August.
Since its founding in 2013, Tilray has specialized in cultivating and distributing medical cannabis products, but in recent years it has shown interest in craft beer. After the transaction closes, Tilray will own 20 U.S. breweries, making them the fourth-largest craft brewing company in the country.
"Tilray Brands is proud to be driving the most compelling and unique growth story in the craft beer industry. With the acquisition of these four craft breweries from Molson Coors, we are marking another strategic milestone in Tilray Brands’ growth plan," Tilray Chairman and CEO Irwin D. Simon said in a press release. "Our team's expertise in operational excellence will enable us to unlock the full potential of these brands and businesses."
Revolver was founded in 2012 by University of Texas alumnus Rhett Keisler and longtime brewer Grant Wood, with the aim of creating balanced beers with "drinkability," according to an interview CraftBeerAustin after the brewery's opening. From the onset, Revolver's golden ale Blood and Honey, made with blood orange peel and Texas honey, received high praise across the craft beer community.
In 2016, MillerCoors, through its Tenth and Blake Beer Company division of "craft" brews, purchased Revolver from Keisler and Wood. Four years later the co-founders stepped down.
For MillerCoors, the sale of Revolver comes at a time when the massive beverage conglomerate is moving on from "craft" and turning its focus back to national macro-brewed brands.
It's unlikely Revolver, which distributes product to about 12,000 locations across Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, will go anywhere with this potential purchase; in fact, Simon of Tilray said his company is excited about doing even more business in the Lone Star State.
"As we move forward, we will leverage our extensive expertise in product innovation and distribution to unlock the full potential of these brands, strengthen their sales and operations, and expand their reach into key markets across the U.S.," Simon said.
