2015 can be described as a milestone year for craft beer.

The most noteworthy thing is that the number of craft beers has exceeded the historical record set in 1873, reaching 4,100 types. With the rapid expansion of the industry, the wave of beer brand mergers this year has also set the tone for the future development of the industry and will change the overall appearance of the industry in the coming year.

In 2016, a wave of mergers and acquisitions will sweep through the craft beer industry. Coincidentally, the merger of the two beer giants will have the biggest impact yet on small beer brands. Belgium's Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to acquire the British brewing company SABMiller for US$107 billion. Although the merger has not yet been finalized, its impact is already considerable. The industry estimates that this merger will create an overall distribution system and will have a long-term impact on the entire industry, even if the impact may not be obvious in the short term. In 2015, the beer industry experienced numerous corporate mergers and acquisitions, and the mergers and acquisitions of the two major beer giants were only the most representative of them.

Let us take a look at the major mergers and acquisitions that occurred in the beer industry this year:

On January 23, AB InBev acquired Elysian Brewing;

On March 9, PE firm Encore Consumer Capital acquired Full Sail Brewing;

On May 22, Oscar ·Oskar Blues Brewery sells majority stake to Fireman Capital Partners;

Firestone Walker on July 17 Entering into a joint operation with Duvel Moortgat;

On November 16, Ballast Point was purchased by Constellation Brands;

On September 8, Lagunitas beer company sold 50% of its ownership shares to Heineken Group;

On September 10, Saint Archer beer company (Saint Archer) was sold to MillerCoors ( MillerCoors) acquisition;

On September 23, AB InBev acquired Golden Road Brewing;

On December 18, the largest craft brewery in Arizona, USA Four Peaks Brewing was sold to Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Of course, there will be more small mergers and acquisitions in 2015, and it can be guaranteed that such a wave of mergers and acquisitions will continue to occur in 2016. Because the market share of craft beer is growing, at the same time, large and small brewery brands will also begin to position themselves into a broader and longer-term development position. In fact, Reuters has previously reported that New Belgium Brewing, an employee-owned company, asked Lazard Middle Market, a subsidiary of Red Group, to act as a matchmaker to find an acquirer, and offered a purchase price of Over $1 billion.

“Craft beer has developed to a stage where small-brand beer has now become a really good business, and companies inside and outside the industry have shown great interest in it.” Brewers Association Industry Economist Bart Watson said.

Brewery owners either want to get rid of their existing industries and seek development outside the industry, or they want to seek a better future development space for their enterprises. These two motivations have contributed to the vast majority of sales this year. Most mergers and acquisitions. Major beer companies are also starting to become more active, while private equity firms are showing greater interest in the space.

So, perhaps we should ask this question, what will be the driving force for mergers and acquisitions in 2016?

A lot will depend on the progress of the AB InBev-Saab Miller merger.

If the deal goes through as expected, with Molson Coors taking over Saab Miller's U.S. operations, the company will be in the spotlight.

“So far, Molson Coors has only carried out one merger and acquisition, but this newly established company will most likely invest in different ways.” Watson said.

If that were the case, Molson Coors would be competing with Anheuser-Busch. Although Anheuser-Busch Co.'s Budweiser didn't focus on craft beer throughout 2015, it continued to invest in and acquire critically acclaimed (and popular) craft beers. factory instead of launching its own craft beer products. The joint venture formed by Miller and Coors is currently facing declining revenue and may become more aggressive in purchasing craft breweries in the future in order to resolve the impasse.

The situation for private equity firms is even more complicated. Although some companies have invested significant capital in breweries, they have not yet been able to spin them off. And until private equity firms figure out whether such an investment is worthwhile, their interest in investing may gradually cool down.

As we enter 2016, one thing is particularly worthy of our attention, and that is the acquisition price of the craft beer industry these days. Constellation spent US$1 billion to acquire Cape Ballast. At the same time, although the commercial details of Heineken’s acquisition of Lagunitas were not disclosed to the outside world, the Wall Street Journal had previously assessed the market value of the California-based brewery at $800 million.

When brand influence is included in transaction costs, such transactions may go astray. But the vast number of sellers interested in selling—especially those with “prestigious” craft brewery brands—are becoming rather superficial. As a result, potential buyers may have to spend more to attract them. So even though the total number of M&A deals in the craft beer industry declined in 2016, the total value of M&A deals was actually likely to increase.

“This is the current supply and demand situation in the market,” Watson said. “The vast majority of wineries (who were thought to be interested in selling) have become undecided because of the rumors.”