Harry Schuhmacher, from Beer Business Daily, is reporting that at long last, Pabst Brewing may have finally found a buyer. The new buyer is C. Dean Metropoulos, formerly of Pinnacle Foods, a food brand giant that he sold last year for $2 billion.
For several years, Pabst has been owned by a non-profit charitable foundation in Northern California, the S&P Company of Mill Valley. The I.R.S. has been insisting since at least 1996 that S&P must sell off Pabst, but they’ve been unable to find a qualified buyer. As a result, the I.R.S. has been granting them extensions while they’ve continued to search for a buyer.
Harry’s take?
He is “adept at revitalizing neglected brands like Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Pam cooking spray and Dennison’s canned chili—and for getting shelf-space mileage out of stronger brands like Bumble Bee canned tuna. ‘I look at all kinds of acquisitions, but I narrow it all down to the strength of the businesses I am already in,’ Metropoulos says to Forbes. Sounds like the right man for the job.
UPDATE: The news from Beer Business Daily is now posted publicly for subscribers and non-subscribers alike.