New twist in the Meantime soap opera

Meantime, the leading craft brewery in Greenwich, South London, is up for sale again just months after being bought by SABMiller, then the world’s second biggest brewer. That was in May but the world of global brewing moves at a fast pace.

Since May, SABMiller has been bought for £71 billion by its bigger rival AB InBev. To meet with the demands of the regulatory authorities in the United States, AB InBev has announced it will shed some of the brands acquired from SABMiller. Earlier this week these included Grolsch and Peroni and now Meantime has been added to the pot – even though it’s of no interest to U.S. regulators.

The news must be causing a mighty migraine down in Greenwich where Meantime founder Alastair Hook and chief executive Nick Miller (below) must be recalling the ancient Greek saying that hubris – puffed up pride and success – is inevitably followed by nemesis or decline and fall.

The SABMiller takeover of Meantime was always an odd one. Nick Miller ran Miller Brands, the UK arm of SABMiller. His move to Meantime was surprising and many people wondered how the Greenwich company could afford his salary.

But his feet were hardly under the desk when his former employers came calling with an offer that Meantime was quick to accept, making its directors wealthy over night.

SABMiller said it would turn Meantime into a “centre of excellence”, developing new brands for its European activities. But the only known new development has been the closure of Meantime’s second brewery in the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich that was indeed a centre of excellence, recreating old beer styles, ageing them in wood and holding beer talks, tastings and beer-and-food matching evenings.

Now the future of the main brewery – which has space to expand to 100,000 barrels a year – is up in the air. It seems odd that AB InBev wants to sell it as it’s under no regulatory threats in Britain to dispose of either brands or breweries and on the surface Meantime would fit with its strategy of buying craft breweries in the U.S. such as Goose Island.

It could be down to simple cash flow: AB InBev has taken on vast bank loans to buy SABMiller and a few million from the sale of Meantime would make the bottom line look healthier.

But whatever the reason, Meantime is “in play” as the City folk say. Who will buy the brewery and such successful brands as London Pale Ale and London Lager? Will Hook, Miller and their fellow directors buy the company back? That would mean emptying the piggy banks they filled to the brim just a few months ago.

More likely they will look for another big brewery to step in. Molson Coors has entered the craft sector in Britain by buying Sharp’s in Cornwall and turning Doom Bar into a leading draught and bottled beer. It has also acquired Franciscan Well in Cork, Ireland, and is busily expanding production. It may run the ruler over Meantime.

Other big players in the British market may be interested. Heineken has invested in its Caledonian Brewery in Edinburgh to expand its range of cask ales while Carlsberg, having shed a small army of employees in its lager facilities, may also consider making a move into the craft sector.

As Carlsberg and Heineken work in concert in some European countries as well as Scandinavia, Russia and the Baltic States, a joint bid for Meantime should not be ruled out.

Keep an eye on Meantime. This is a fast-moving beer and soap opera.