Pabst Is Sold to Russian Beverage Company

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: New York Times

By David Gelles
September 18, 2014 3:59 pm

A Russian beverage company said on Thursday that it was acquiring the Pabst Brewing Company, which makes the Pabst Blue Ribbon beer popular with barflies and hipsters alike and other brands like Colt 45 and Old Milwaukee.

The company did not disclose terms of the transaction, but people briefed on the matter said the price was more than $700 million in cash. ... The buyer is Oasis Beverages, a Russian brewer and beverages distributor. Backing Oasis is TSG Consumer Partners, an American private equity firm focused on consumer goods, which will take a minority stake.

“Pabst Blue Ribbon is the quintessential American brand – it represents individualism, egalitarianism and freedom of expression – all the things that make this country great,” Eugene Kashper, the chairman of Oasis Beverages, said in a statement. “The opportunity to work with the company’s treasure trove of iconic brands, some of which I started my career selling, is a dream come true. It will be an honor to work with Pabst’s dedicated employees and partner distributors as we continue to build the business.”

Pabst has been owned by Dean Metropoulos, the consumer products magnate who recently took over the Twinkie line of products from Hostess Brands with private equity firm Apollo.



A patron drinks a Pabst Blue Ribbon at Floyd's bar in Brooklyn.Credit Robert Caplin for The New York Times

Read more: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/18/pabst-is-said-to-near-a-sale/

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Gee. I bought a case just two or three weeks ago. It's pretty much Miller High Life cut in the ratio of one part beer to two parts water.

PBR bock was great stuff, but I've haven't seen that in 40 years.

Hat tip, JoeMyGod:: PBR Sold To Russian Company

[hlthe2b]

1. Well, I guess we've gotten "even" with them (for any holding an "Anti-Russian" grudge)

PBR--bleah

[L0oniX]

15. I guess they turned down an offer of Busch beer?

[CentralMass]

31. On a side note there were a couple close calls with Russian jet near U.S. Airspace today

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/19/us/russian-plane-incidents/index.html?c=homepage-t

[FrodosPet]

2. Red Scares, White Socks

And Blue Ribbon Beer!

[KamaAina]

3. That'll drive all the LGBT hipsters stark raving nuts!

Or, for that matter, any hipster who gives a rip about LGBT issues, if there is such a thing.

I actually just downed a PBR a couple of weeks ago. I was in between two gigs in SF, so I stopped off at a place called Whiskey Thieves, where the special was a tall PBR and a shot of -- if you can believe this -- whiskey for five bucks. I was mostly after the whiskey, but what the hey.

[unionthug777]

4. crapbst

yuck. though I do have a 30-pack of milw. best ice.....union made.....otherwise it's craft ipa's...mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

IPA'S getting thirsty !!!

[shenmue]

5. I'm not a hipster

I drank Pabst years ago in school because it was cheap.

[longship]

6. When you're out of Schlitz you're out of shit, but when you're full of Blatz you're out of it.

Old time beers. My favorite is Strohs still brewed but unfortunately not in Detroit.and when you are full of Strohs... Yup! You are out of it.

[MADem]

7. Well, there's always Rolling Rock, or any one of a number of cheap beers for the college set.

When I was a "kid" (and by kid I mean a young college student--that was pretty much the last time I drank much in the way of beer) my crowd would let price be the driver. If the case was ten cents cheaper, we'd buy THAT Panther Piss instead of THIS Panther Piss!

[FailureToCommunicate]

8. What other crap can we sell them? Let's look around the garage...

(And yes, I'm old enough to remember back when there were not many choices in beers, and we STILL wouldn't drink those.)

[muntrv]

9. We couldn't sell them Black Label?

[Owl]

40. Does anyone drink that salty piss-water?

[Treant]

10. If I drank this swill,

I'd now boycott it. I don't, however, drink that swill.

[ladjf]

11. Well, there goes another American tradition. nt

[Sopkoviak]

12. Hey, maybe they'll drop a shot of vodka In it

What?

That's what we did in college.

[Blue Owl]

26. The Beer Tzar would not approve

n/t

[L0oniX]

13. PBR ...all time worst beer/swill ...made from bar spill troughs and left overs from a dog dish.

[Action_Patrol]

23. No way.

Iron City, Gennessee, Narragansett...

So many worse beers.

[tazkcmo]

27. Kind of like

saying, "Skin cancer? There's a lot worse! Lung cancer, for instance."

[Action_Patrol]

32. Hello Captain Hyperbole

Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you.

[L0oniX]

34. LOL

[tazkcmo]

37. Finally!

Took 25 years after my separation from the Army but I finally got that (deserved) promotion! lol

[Revanchist]

43. Still better than Billy Beer N/T.

[Cryptoad]

14. a little touch of home for Comrade Snowden, heh? ni

[olddad56]

16. That will teach Putin to screw with the Ukraine.

[marble falls]

17. Owning Pabst is punishment enough.

[Earth_First]

18. That's too bad...

...hopefully they are after the brand without intent to restructure the manufacturing overseas at a cheaper labor cost.

Pabst is a union shop... Milwaukee UAW Local 72.

[msongs]

19. "individualism, egalitarianism and freedom of expression" - that are illegal in Russia lol nt

[Demeter]

20. In this time of sanctions..that's a blow to the beer gut!

[Action_Patrol]

21. You can really taste the Lincoln.

Pabst always tasted like liquid pennies to me. No different than swishing with a mouth full of change.

Great. Now I'm thirsty.

[albino65]

22. I mentioned this to my wife

She responded: Is it Pabst Red Ribbon now? She's a hoot.

[Action_Patrol]

24. Dennis Hopper: National Treasure

[link:http://m.

|

[Blue Owl]

25. Want me to pour the beer, Frank?

...no, I wantchya to FUCK it!

[FrodosPet]

38. The Long Form Commercial for Pabst

[Brother Buzz]

28. What a revoltin' development this is!

[thelordofhell]

29. David Lynch's Pabst Blue Ribbon Commercial

[FrodosPet]

33. Thank you!

This was even more refreshing than a tall, cold Bell's Two Hearted Ale.

[CentralMass]

30. Pabst used to sell a really cheap beer here in Ma called "Red White and Blue"

It was a favorite among college students.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

49. I recall that.

It was even worse than PBR. I did use it to make chili, boiling the beans and meat in it. With enough chili powder and pepper, it even tasted good.

[FSogol]

50. We only drank Red White and Blue because it was 89 cents a 6 pack!

We spend our lunch money ($1.00) on it. It was sad when the price went to $1.09 because we had to find some change every day to feed our after school habit.

[OnyxCollie]

36. The smell of PBR is even worse than the taste.

[William Seger]

42. All "American Adjunct Lagers" should be served ICE cold

Otherwise, you can taste and smell the sourness of the rice or corn that's been substituted for barley malt. At least Coors has the decency to warn you that the stuff isn't drinkable unless the "cold activated" mountains are blue.

[Oktober]

39. Yet another reason to avoid it....

[freshwest]

41. Russians victimized by the USA, again!

[candelista]

45. Meanwhile, in USA...

Horse yoga.

[freshwest]

46. That's wonderful! Have some bear yoga!

[KurtNYC]

47. "In Russia, horse rides on YOU."

[truthisfreedom]

44. Commie red, white and blue!

Putin' that special something into American swill!

[Throd]

48. I'll take an ice cold Pabst over most IPAs.

Even that uber-hip obscure one from Oregon that you like to brag about

[liberal N proud]

51. They can have that stuff

It is a wonder that I like beer after drinking a few kegs of that stuff when I was young.

It was cheap beer then so everyone drank it. I never caught on the resurgence of Pabst the recent years.