Eight months after announcing intentions to sell its U.K. craft brewing operations, Kirin subsidiary Lion has sold its Magic Rock and Fourpure brands to Odyssey Inns Ltd, a hospitality group led by Stephen Cox, who co-founded Devon’s Utopian Brewing.
As sales of U.S. craft beer have begun to slow, so too has the appetite for domestic dealmaking. More recently, however, there’s been an uptick in the number of international craft acquisitions — including a pair of well-regarded London-based breweries. London’s Fourpure Brewing Co. announced today a 100 percent sale to Australia-headquartered and Kirin-owned Lion Pty Limited.
Fourpure Brewing Co. a stand-out from Bermondsey’s thriving craft beer scene has taken the opportunity to partner with Crafted Exports, a New York-based importer, to launch Fourpure beers on the east coast of the United States.