JuneShine Reportedly in Talks to Purchase Flying Embers
UPDATE, March 4: JuneShine has confirmed that they will be purchasing Flying Embers in an all-stock deal. It is expected to close this week.
March 1, 2024 – JuneShine, the six year old hard kombucha brand, is reportedly in talks to purchase Flying Embers, according to sources within both companies.
The report, initially written by Dave Infante’s beverage industry newsletter Fingers, describes an email from Flying Embers’ head of sales Ben Galvin in which he stated that a deal was expected to close today, March 1st. When asked for comment, one of JuneShine’s co-founders Forrest Dein claimed “the deal is still far from done,” and that there was still a potential for the acquisition to fall apart.
Sources also described a “distressed situation” at Flying Embers, which marks a reversal for the brand from its earlier success. Founded in Ojai, California in 2017, the brand is owned by Fermented Sciences, Inc, and has received financial backing from Anheuser-Busch InBev‘s venture fund, as well as Beam Suntory.
Both brands are among the most popular hard kombuchas in the United States, a style that was once seen as a growing “beyond beer” contender but has since fallen off in popularity. Flying Embers had opened up taprooms Los Angeles, Boston, and a collaboration space in Santa Barbara. However both the Los Angeles and Boston taprooms have since closed. JuneShine, meanwhile, has taprooms in San Diego, Santa Monica, and Brooklyn. JuneShine has also recently entered the traditional beer space with a light lager they call Easy Rider.
JuneShine was also the subject of speculation about its own purchase late last year, as Reuters reported that they were exploring a sale of over $100 million. Juneshine denied the speculation, and in fact obtained a seven figure investment from private equity firm InvestBev earlier this year.
When Infante reached out to JuneShine about the deal, co-founder Greg Serrao offered details on a “big project” to hold on the story until today. However, he later asked to bump that hold back until Monday (an offer that was refused). Stay tuned to see if news breaks officially in the new week.