The combination of two of New Jersey’s largest craft breweries is off.
The transaction announced in April that would combine Cape May Brewing Company, the Garden State’s largest craft brewery, and Flying Fish, one of the oldest, is a no-go.
Cape May president Frank Stempin shared a statement with Brewbound Wednesday that was similar to one shared with All About Beer, which broke the news on social media Tuesday.
Stempin wrote: “after extensive analysis during the diligence phase, Cape May Brewing Company has determined it will not complete the planned acquisition of Flying Fish. As a result, all plans associated with the close have halted, and the acquisition will not proceed.”
Cape May declined to comment further.
Flying Fish president Frank Rio told Brewbound that the 30-year-old craft brewery is operating “business as usual” after the deal fell apart a couple of weeks ago. Rio added that any insight as to why the deal didn’t close would have to come from Cape May, since it was the acquirer and the Flying Fish side had expected the transaction to go forward.
“We’re keeping our employees employed and keep brewing beer after 30 years,” he said. “What the next steps are, we’ll see. But for us, we’re pressing on.”
The deal was initially expected to close in May. When the proposed combination was first announced in late April, Cape May said the addition of Flying Fish would boost its warehouse space and manufacturing capabilities with 25,000 barrels of annual capacity, with room to grow.
In 2021, Flying Fish’s volume declined -13%, to 16,688 barrels, down from its five-year high of 19,250 barrels in 2020, according to the most recent data available from the Brewers Association (BA).
Cape May produced about 43,000 barrels in 2022, a decline of around -5%, Stempin shared with Brewbound in January.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 5:05 p.m. ET to include comments from Flying Fish.