Livingstone’s Ryan Buckley Talks Craft Beverage M&A with MiBiz

MiBiz editor Joe Boomgaard asked Livingstone Managing Director Ryan Buckley for his views on the changing retail landscape for craft beverage producers.

Ryan’s comments were featured in a recent issue of MiBiz:

On Western Michigan’s Booming Craft Beer Industry Grapples with Growth, Buckley explains:
“There’s a reason why they’re [regional craft brands] are not trading. It’s that the major players aren’t interested or they themselves are uninterested in pursuing a private equity partner or a strategic buyer…they want to remain independent…but they want to continue to grow and continue to support their brand and the market is forcing them to do so.”

Click here to read full article.

On As Consolidation Continues, Craft Brewers Worry About Access to Market, Buckley notes:
“There’s not a lot of industries out there that have 40-50 percent gross margins, 20-30 percent EBITDA margins, they’re growing double digits and they have industry tailwinds where the overall industry is growing at double-digit rates…It’s not a surprise that a lot of investment dollars are chasing it [the industry]…it’s just that craft beer has historically been a place that’s shunned outside investment. That, of course, has changed over the last two to three years.”

Click here to read full article.

On Rotation Nation: Pressured from Above and Below, Larger Craft Brewers Seek out their Place in the Market, Buckley highlights:
“The market evolution has proven to be particularly difficult for their “mid-level” or top 50 craft brewers that compete regionally and nationally…the majors are going to exercise their influence, and the local guys are just relevant…these mid-level guys are now having to revamp their business model a bit and hire more resources in different pockets of the country to support those brands a bit more.”

Click here to read full article.