Belgian-based Duvel Moortgat and California’s Firestone Walker Brewing Company and have announced they will combine their two companies in the United States.
FW founder David Walker and Adam Firestone and Michel Moortgat, CEO of Duvel Moortgat, signed an agreement earlier this week, and the transaction is expected to close later this year. Because it is an agreement between two private companies no financial or contractual details will be disclosed.
The companies announced the deal simultaneously with press releases and by using social media.
Walker and Firestone stated: “The Firestone Walker and Duvel Moortgat families have combined forces to broaden their capacity and scope as brewers. Long admirers of each other’s beers, culture and breweries, the two teams saw the perfect fit for an alliance. The partnership will allow Firestone Walker to develop our capacity across the US in a conservative and thoughtful way by consummating a life long tie with this family-owned international craft brewer, who continue their commitment to participating in the American Craft Revolution.”
And Moortat said: “The relationship I have built with David and Adam made Firestone Walker the perfect fit for future growth. We share the same values; have a great mutual respect for each other’s achievements and a deeply-held belief in exceptional quality as a platform for long-term success. Bringing Firestone Walker together with Boulevard, Ommegang, Duvel and the other craft breweries in our family creates a stronger platform in the USA for us both and allows us to collaborate on brewing in different locations across the USA.”
Te Duvel Moortgat group was founded in Belgium in 1871. The company was an original investor in Brewery Ommegang in New York and eventually purchased full control of the brewery. Two years ago it acquired Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City. The company also imports its European brands, including Duvel, Chouffe, Maredsous, De Koninck and Liefmans.
Although the press release from Duvel Moorgat stated at the beginning that “(Firestone Walker) will continue to operate independently in Paso Robles under its current leadership of David Walker and Adam Firestone” much is left to be learned about the actual deal.