Beer Radar

As you undoubtedly heard earlier this week, an investment firm called the Griffin Group has purchased Anchor Brewing from Fritz Maytag, pioneering brewing icon of the craft beer renaissance.

I interviewed Fritz this afternoon by telephone, shortly after he and the Griffin Group’s partners spoke with his employees about the transaction. I’ll be writing more about this in a future column in the Daily News. In the meantime, here’s an edited version of the Q&A. (Many thanks to Andy Musser for helping me pull this together.)

Q. What actually happened here? Have you sold 100 percent of Anchor Brewing?

A. It’s not very complicated. I own 100 percent of the company, and the deal is for 100 percent of the company.

But one thing, the company has not been sold, yet. These guys are not the owners, yet. They have agreed to buy the company from me under certain terms. If they back out, it will cost them a pretty penny. But there are all kinds of things to do. They are the potential new owners. I will continue to run the company in the meantime…We’ll be lucky if they can take over in 3 months – August probably…

Q. This came as a surprise to many people. How long have you been thinking about selling the company?

A. I don’t think it has caught my employees by surprise. I’ve been talking for years about the fact that I’m getting up in years and that something would happen with the company, and that I would like to direct what would happen…

I’ve been looking hard for more than 5 years, trying to find the right owner. The great recession happened in the middle of that, but it’s been a quiet steady process for more than 5 years. I’ve been talking to these guys almost for 5 years. We had a lead on these guys very early on, and they came back relatively recently. One of the [partners] was our first choice, years and years ago. Our very, very first choice. We went out looking for them, we didn’t wait for anyone to call us.

Q. Why the Griffin Group?

A. I have had a list of requirements: I wanted San Franciscans, and these guys are from San Francisco or nearby. I wanted someone young enough to have a long career. I wanted very capable people, so it would be in good hands. I wanted financial strength… and I wanted integrity.

There were some names [of potential buyers] we had heard that we didn’t even talk to. We wanted something special. These guys have met all of my requirements. And not only that, they are terrific.

Q. When did you realize you might actually sell the company to them?

We signed last Thursday. It was pretty obvious they were wildly enthusiastic about it… But it’s one thing to have a handshake. It’s another to do due diligence. All the details, all of the facts have to be in writing. You’re talking about a major commitment financially and morally.

I’m very please with these guys. I’ve worked very hard to find the right owners and I think these guys are really good.

Q. Was there any interest from anyone in the Maytag family or employees?

A. There’s no one in family who’d be interested. I have a daughter with 3 kids – she’s a psychologist, and she’s involved in Maytag blue cheese company, where I’m more worried about family continuity. But Anchor is not the sort of thing she would want to do…

I never received what you would call a serious offer from any employees.

Q. Did the buyers present any plans on the future of the company? You always seemed happy with the size of the company – do you see it expanding?

A. We have discussed several things like that. I won’t be an owner, so it won’t be in my hands. I’m reluctant to talk about details… They’ve made commitments to me sufficient to give me comfort that all the concepts and principles I’ve worked to build will be maintained and won’t be significantly changed.

Q. Do you have any concerns about the future of the Anchor brand?

A. These guys have impressed me tremendously with the fact that they’re not buying company because we sell 88,000 barrels of beer. They’re buying it for Anchor’s reputation and its position in the marketplace. My life work has been all about building quality and integrity, not volume… These guys understand what Anchor means, and it’s in as good as hands as I could possibly leave it.

Q. Are the current employees going to keep their jobs?

A. Yes… [the partnership] has committed to retaining all of the employees for a period of time that gives me great comfort… We have a fantastic team of people. It was terribly important to me to get a commitment from the new owners to keep that team together.

Q. What’s next for you?

A. My wife is worried I’ll come home and start alphabetizing the spices… But it’s nice to know I don’t have to solve problems. Somebody else is going to run the Anchor brewing company, and I like that.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 29th, 2010 at 5:21 pm and is filed under Beer etc.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.