Bira 91 buys The Beer Cafe in all-stock deal: Report

Indian craft beer brand Bira 91 has acquired India’s largest alcobev chain The Beer Cafe in an all-stock deal, The Economic Times reported on October 12.  Investors in The Beer Cafe — including promoters Rahul and Bineeta Singh, Mayfield, Granite Hill and RB Investments — will get shares of Bira 91.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The said acquisition will make the pub chain a fully-owned subsidiary of Bira 91 and comes at a time when dining out is seeing double-digit growth, having reversed sharply from pandemic-induced curbs and intermittent shutdowns of bars and restaurants.

Domestic premium beermaker Bira 91 will get a retail presence through the Beer Cafe’s 33 outlets, while the pub chain gets the beer company’s support in innovations and supply chain.

This acquisition will enable Bira 91 to build a direct-to-consumer platform focused on beer and foster the the growth of beer culture in India, its chief executive Ankur Jain told ET.

The Beer Cafe’s management team, led by founder and chief executive Rahul Singh, will continue to lead its operations and will also take up responsibility of Bira 91’s newly formed restaurant division. This is being scaled up as large-format, craft beer-focused stores under the brand name Bira 91 Taproom.

Singh said The Beer Cafe will continue to sell a variety of beers at its outlets. “Bira 91 will continue to invest in beer innovation and efficient supply chain. This will grow our own capabilities, along with talent and scale. Also, the group will take care of all support functions, which will give me sharper focus to expand Beer Cafe,” he said.

Singh said The Beer Cafe did not shut down any outlets during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that stores only had to close temporarily in states where lockdowns had been imposed.

Also read: J&K government allows department stores in urban areas to sell beer

Bira 91’s existing investors include Sequoia Capital India, Sofina of Belgium and Kirin Holding of Japan. It re ported revenues of Rs 428.2 crore in 2020-21, according to regulatory filings.

The company, which was set up in 2015, is present in over 500 towns and 15 countries.