Canadian winemaker Andrew Peller Ltd. has officially wrapped up a $26.2 million deal announced last fall to sell a well-known Vancouver craft brewer to an arm of Molson Coors.
Peller, based at Grimsby in Ontario’s Niagara region, announced in October last year it would sell Granville Island Brewing Co. to Molson-owned Creemore Springs Brewery.
Proceeds from the sale have been used to reduce “long-term debt and bank indebtedness,” Peller said in a release Monday. The winery previously said it received about 90 per cent of the sale price in its third quarter ending Dec. 31.
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Peller, whose wine brands include Peller Estates, Trius, Hillebrand, Thirty Bench, Sandhill, Red Rooster, Croc Crossing, XOXO and Copper Moon, said the brewery sale allows the seller to “more effectively focus on its key strengths and long-term strategy.”
Granville Island, which has operated since 1984, selling craft and specialty beers exclusively into the B.C. market, will keep its operations and branding intact, Creemore Springs said in a release.
Creemore Springs, based at Creemore, Ont., west of Barrie, said it will work with Granville Island to “evaluate expansion opportunities to other parts of Canada.”
The two companies said they also aim to boost awareness of the B.C. product through “increased investment in marketing, which will remain truthful to the brand identity.”