Getting Your Ducks In A Row

This past August, Sapporo bought Anchor Brewing. Anheuser-Busch InBev has bought Wicked Weed, Four Peaks, and many more breweries. If and when your turn comes, will you be ready? Here are a few things craft breweries can do to be prepared for an acquisition.

• Launder your Ledger. Get your capitalization table and equity ledger in shape. You need to have a clear picture of who owns what in your company, and you need to be able to easily provide that information to a potential buyer. Whether your entity is an LLC or a corporation, make sure you have detailed, understandable, and up-to-date records on equity ownership.
• Be Wary of Warrants. If your brewery has ever borrowed money from a bank, it may have issued warrants to the bank. Some warrants are deemed automatically exercised upon an acquisition; some require advance notice of an acquisition. Make sure you know the terms of every warrant and similar instrument your company may have issued.