Family breweries Bavaria and Palm join forces

Bavaria N.V., the second-largest beer brewer in the Netherlands, is making its first acquisition. With an eye on the growing segment in the beer world – specialty beers – the brewer has chosen to acquire Palm Belgium Craft Brewers. On Tuesday, May 10, 2016, the breweries announced that they would be joining forces.

In addition to its own lager and well-known names such as La Trappe, Radler, and 0.0%, the brewer will now also offer brands such as Palm, Rodenbach, Brugge, Cornet, Arthur’s Legacy, and various abbey beers from Steenbrugge. This is the first step the brewery is taking to double its revenue to €1 billion in 2020. Bavaria acquires 60% of the shares now and the remainder in 2021; nothing is being disclosed regarding the acquisition price.

To trust
Both brewers have confidence in the merger. The family brewers have forged a bond over the years, share a common background and passion, and both see the benefits for themselves. In this way, Bavaria is able to expand its range and gain access to the Belgian retail and hospitality sectors, while Palm can gain more international recognition through Bavaria's network and distribution channels. After all, over 65% of Bavaria's production is destined for export to 120 countries.

The merger will have hardly any adverse consequences for the Palm Belgium Craft BrewersPalm remains a Belgian company with Belgian management. The breweries remain in Belgium and will remain open. Furthermore, no jobs will be lost as a result of the takeover.

Palm reinforcement
Things were not going so well for the Palm Group in the past; in 2014, the group posted a net loss of €443,000, but managed to turn that into a net profit of €475,000 in 2015. In recent years, Palm has focused heavily on strengthening its range of specialty beers, including its own produced luxury beers. The brewer has particularly high expectations for the new brand Cornet; the distinctive blonde beer won gold at the World Beer Awards in 2014. It is expected that the beer will be available in Belgian supermarket chains such as Delhaize, Colruyt, and Carrefour; Palm has also made agreements regarding this with Jumbo and Albert Heijn in the Netherlands.