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.
Included in the sale are the breweries and taprooms in London, Huddersfield and Holmfirth, as well as a Little Creatures-branded taproom in King’s Cross, London.
The sale of the two craft brewing operations comes three and four years after Lion acquired them. Lion acquired Fourpure in July 2018, and followed that transaction in March 2019 with the purchase of Magic Rock.
In January 2022, Lion had put the brands under a “strategic review,” which ultimately determined that “Odyssey represented the right team of U.K. beer and hospitality industry experts to lead the Fourpure and Magic Rock brands into their next chapters.”
Cox brings more than two decades of experience in the hospitality industry and U.K. pub business, the company said.
“This is an incredible opportunity to take two exceptional brands, Fourpure and Magic Rock, to the next level,” Cox said in a sale announcement. “Combined with an excellent hospitality proposition, fantastic people and state of the art breweries, we really have the platform to do great things. We’re excited to get started and get to know the team. We bring bags of energy and enthusiasm, entrepreneurial spirit and strong industry experience, and we hope to bring joy to many more customers with these great beers.”
“Odyssey brings together a great team with a clear passion for brewing and hospitality and is ideally placed to take Magic Rock and Fourpure forward,” Lion’s U.K. managing director Gordon Treanor added. “I’d like to thank our brilliant team for their commitment and dedication, especially over the past two years. With some great sales and brand momentum, the business is well-placed for the future ahead, under new ownership.”
Magic Rock and Fourpure had been a part of a Lion Little World Beverages portfolio that includes New Belgium Brewing, Bell’s Brewery and Magnolia Brewing in the U.S. and Little Creatures in Australia. The sale of Magic Rock and Fourpure will allow Lion to focus its future investments on Australia, New Zealand and the U.S.
In U.S. off-premise retailers year-to-date through July 10, Lion is the ninth largest beer category vendor in multi-outlet and convenience stores tracked by market research firm IRI. Lion’s scan data sales are up +10.8%, to $278.89 million, and the company holds a 1.19 share (+.13) of beer category dollars. Diving into those dollar sales, the New Belgium brand family has increased scan sales +18.1%, to more than $218.722 million, with a .93 share (+.16) of beer category dollars.