Anaheim, California-based Brewery X, who was the highest bidder during the auction for Modern Times Brewing has dropped out and will not proceed in taking ownership of the San Diego brewery, according to an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune. The backup-bidder was Maui Brewing Company, but that doesn’t mean that their interest is still intact.
“This was an unexpected development in this process,” Modern Times CEO Jennifer Briggs said in a statement. “I am looking forward to working with Maui Brewing Co. and finalizing the sale process and transitioning the business.”
But an article in Good Beer Hunting reported yesterday that Maui was not ready to commit to moving forward with the acquisition of Modern Times. In the article, Maui CEO Garrett Marrero was quoted as saying, “we thought this deal had flown given the other two bidders showing how much they were willing to pay. It got dropped back in our lap as backup bidder and we were already onto other projects.”
For now, it appears that Maui has the option to acquire Modern Times, but is still mulling it over. ProBrewer News will post an update when further details come forward.