Maui Brewing is officially coming to the mainland.
The Hawaii-based brand announced this afternoon that it had moved forward with its acquisition of Modern Times, the California brewery that has faced recent troubles and had been up for sale via auction.
The announcement brings an end to a strange chapter in the Modern Times story.
The brewery, based in Point Loma, California was founded in 2013 by Jacob McKean and quickly expanded to several locations and grew distribution to multiple states, becoming one of the largest craft breweries in the country. It later added a coffee roasting company to the portfolio, and in 2017 became an employee-owned company.
Last year McKean stepped down from his role at the brewery after being accused of fostering culture that ignored leadership abuses.
Earlier this year Modern Times entered bankruptcy and was put on the auction block to find a new owner. When the dust settled the first time, Brewery X emerged as the winner with a bid of $20 million dollars. That was soon thrown into uncertainty and the group quickly pulled their offer, paving the way for Maui Brewing Co., which had put in a $15.3 million offer, per reports,
Finalizing the Deal
Maui expects to close on the deal in October, and today said it “was prudent in its decision to move forward, taking appropriate measures to evaluate and solidify details prior to the announcement for the sake of both the Modern Times and Maui Brewing teams.”
The acquisition will mean that Maui Brewing will be able to continue its distribution push throughout the United States, and the company can build upon synergies with its existing coffee business.
“We are now even more excited in the future of Modern Times,” said Maui Brewing Company CEO and Co-Founder, Garrett Marrero in a statement. “The delays were painful for all; however, it was important that we waited until we had made concrete decisions to avoid any further emotional whiplash for our collective teams. We are beyond stoked to be welcomingModern Times into the Maui ‘Ohana and work together to achieve our fullest potential.”
The Future of Maui Brewing and Modern Times
Maui Brewing, in a release, noted that the two breweries have a lot in common with their brands, products, and wholesalers.
“This has been an uncommon situation in the way we’ve lived it out publicly, and now we have the opportunity to be methodical in opening the next chapter,” said Modern Times CEO Jennifer Briggs in a statement.
Combined, the company says it is on track to produce 215,000 barrels of beer in 2022, with Maui estimating that it will produce 90,000 barrels at its Hawaii facility. Modern Times is on track to produce 125,000 barrels, the company says.
The combination of the breweries will result in the 21st largest craft brewery in the country, according to Brewers Association metrics.
Editor’s note: an earlier version of this story had included TRU Colors brewing as a co-winner of the first bid. This has been removed and updated.