Marston's acquires £19.2m Ringwood

Marston's has bought Hampshire-based Ringwood Brewery for £19.2m. The brewery, which was founded by Peter Austin in 1978, produces around 30,000 barrels a year. Its brands include award-

winning beers such as Ringwood Best Bitter, Old Thumper and Fortyniner.

The business supplies approximately 700 customers, predominantly in the South of England. It also owns seven freehold pubs - two managed and five

tenanted.

The deal was brokered originally by Ringwood non-executive director and Cask Marque boss Paul Nunny,

who suggested Marston's might be a good buyer of Ringwood as current owner David Welsh was thinking about retiring.

The acquisition means that Marston's will be brewing in four locations - Wolverhampton, Burton, Cockermouth and Ringwood. This transaction is in line

with Marston's strategy of developing a portfolio of well-established premium regional beer brands to complement its core range.

It also fits well with Marston's recent purchase of the Eldridge Pope estate and strengthens the company's position further in the south of England - Ringwood's Best Bitter was the best-selling cask bitter in the Eldridge Pope estate, acquired by Marston's earlier this year.

Marston's Beer Company managing director Alistair Darby said: "We plan to develop its excellent brands as part of our strategy to meet consumer demand for premium ales with local provenance and heritage.

"Our premium-ale business continues to deliver good, consistent growth and we look forward to replicat-

ing the success of the Jennings business through Ringwood in the south of England."

Ringwood also owns the Château de Fayolle vineyard in France, which is to be sold by Marston's.

The comeback of cask ale

Darby on the deal: "We are seeing a resurgence in cask ale, especially ones produced by regional brewers such as Ringwood, where there is a distinct local heritage. It is strongly linked to growth in demand for organic lines and for produce with known provenance - rather than goods that are trunked around the country. There is a change going on among the generation of people who, when they were 18 to 25, were the first British drinkers to be brought up on lager instead of ale. What we are finding is that, when a lot of them get into their 30s and 40s, they are switching to high-quality wine and to beers which have more taste - and which are not sold at such bone-achingly cold temperature."