Private equity firm Fireman Capital Partners-owned Oscar Blues has acquired Florida-based Cigar City Brewing for an undisclosed sum.
The transaction is expected to be completed within the next three months.
Cigar City will continue to be in charge of the company as it grows, and will become part of the Oskar Blues Holdings board.
Fireman Capital had formed a separate holding company named United Craft Brews, which include five craft breweries. This company has been specifically set up for craft brewery acquisitions.
Cigar City Brewing founder Joey Redner will remain as CEO following the transaction.
Joey said: "Cigar City is facing next-level challenges and we needed to develop next-level skills and resources to meet them. But, we got into beer out of passion and an unwavering desire to travel our own path.
"Florida craft beer drinkers want something they can proudly stand behind. These guys get that."
Fireman Capital owns majority stakes in Oskar Blues, Perrin Brewing and the Utah Brewers Cooperative association which includes Wasatch and Squatters brands.
With this acquisition, Fireman Capital through its United Craft Brews consortium intends to position itself as a strong player in the craft beer sector.
Together, all the five companies have produced more than 320,000 barrels in 2015.
Apart from its presence in Utah, the group is believed to have a stronghold in the markets of Colorado, North Carolina, Michigan and Texas.
Oskar Blues spokesman Chad Melis said: "I think the goal is to be able to provide additional resources -- financially and experience-wise -- and create a collaborative environment where breweries can keep their culture."
Cigar City Brewing founder Joey Redner said: "Cigar City is facing next-level challenges and we needed to develop next-level skills and resources to meet them. But, we got into beer out of passion and an unwavering desire to travel our own path. We didn't want to just shove our round peg into some square hole and hope for the best."
Oskar Blues is considered to be one of the 25 largest-craft breweries in the US. It operates plants in both Longmont and North Carolina and plans to open a third production brewery in Austin in the near future.
Oskar is planning to inject capital into Cigar City using funds from Fireman initially and offer its expertise to help the growth of the brewery.
Chad Melis said that it is not yet clear as to whether Oskar Blues would produce any Cigar City beers in any of its breweries to expand Cigar City distribution. Also, the company has not yet decided on when and where Cigar City would expand distribution to, including whether or not the beer will be sold in Colorado in the near future.
Image: Oscar Blues acquires Cigar City Brewing. Photo: Courtesy of tiverylucky/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
