Anderson Valley Brewing Up For Sale at $7.9 Million

September 9, 2024 – Anderson Valley Brewing Company has been given a price tag, and the sticker price is coming in at $7.9 million. The Boonville, California craft brewery founded in 1987 was listed on business classified site BizQuest by Mainsheet Capital, the company founded by Kevin McGee that has owned Anderson Valley since 2019.

The listing, which includes the real estate, equipment, and inventory, shows that the company has a gross annual revenue of $4.2 million, though cash flow and earnings were not disclosed. The property covers 29 acres, and includes a 126kWh solar array – which the company claims makes it the world’s first solar powered brewery.

If a buyer is found, it would not be the first time Anderson Valley was sold. The company was founded by David Norfleet and Kim and Ken Allen in the quiet Mendocino County town of Boonville nearly 40 years ago. In 2010, they sold the business to Trey White and two silent partners, who sold it again in 2019 to Kevin McGee and his family. McGee had made a name for himself first as an attorney for Jackson Family Wines, and later as the founder of Healdsburg Brewing Company in 2007.

Shortly after purchasing Anderson Valley, McGee attempted to switch his distribution from Reyes Beverage Group (the sixth largest privately held company in the United States) to three other distributors. Reyes reportedly asked for several million dollars for the “fair market value” of the distribution rights to allow the deal to go through, a request which McGee did not accept. In March of 2020, Mainsheet Capital informed Reyes that it was transferring its distribution rights to the other distributors, and three days later, Reyes sued.

Earlier this year, the judge in that case ruled in Anderson Valley’s favor, saying that Reyes’ interpretation of the law “would lead to an absurd result.” The victory, however, was apparently not enticing enough for McGee to stay in the business – although the listing for the page cites “Owner retirement” as the reason for selling.