Pabst Brewing, amongst America’s oldest, seeks buyer

Pabst Brewing Co, one of the oldest breweries in the US, is looking to sell itself in a transaction that may fetch its owner between $500 million and $1 billion, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter said.

Los Angeles-based Pabst has hired boutique investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners to assist with the sale process, the report said.

Pabst is also considering an initial public offering as an alternative, the report added.

Food investor C Dean Metropoulos had acquired Pabst in 2011 for $250 million.

Illinois-based Pabst was ordered by the US Internal Revenue Service to sell itself under a federal law that bars charities from owning for-profit businesses for more than five years.

Pabst had been owned for about a decade by the Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation, a charity founded by millionaire brewing magnate Paul Kalmanovitz, who died in 1987, two years after buying Pabst.

Most of Kalmanovitz estate was left to create the foundation to help aid hospitals and universities.

Founded in Milwaukee in 1844 as Best & Company by Jacob Best, Best Brewery was the second-largest brewer in the US in 1870s.

It changed its name to Pabst Brewing Company in 1889 after Jacob's son-in-law Phillip Best took over reins of the brewery.

Paul Kalmanovitz acquired Pabst in 1985 for $63 million in a hostile takeover. He closed down the brewery and contracted the entire beer production to La Crosse, Wisconsin brewery, and shifted the company headquarters to Los Angeles.

Pabst sells over two dozen brands of beer and malt liquor, including Pabst Blue Ribbon, Jacob Best, the early 2oth century popular beer Schlitz, Old Milwaukee, Ice Man Malt Liquor, St. Ides High Gravity, and Old Ale House.