Update, July 28, 2022: Today, Kihei, Hawaii-based Maui Brewing confirmed it will indeed acquire Modern Times for $15.3 million, twice as much as Maui’s initial “stalking horse” bid of $7.62 million. The transaction is set to close in October.
It’s been three weeks since Modern Times CEO Jennifer Briggs announced that Anaheim, California-based Brewery X, previously declared the winner of the auction to purchase Modern Times, had chosen not to complete the transaction. Maui CEO Garrett Marrero says his company took the last three weeks to “evaluate and solidify details” of the transaction before making an announcement today that the deal will indeed go through. “The delays were painful for all; however, it was important that we waited until we had made concrete decisions to avoid any further emotional whiplash for our collective teams,” Marrero stated in a press release.
Below is a timeline of the months-long back-and-forth regarding Modern Times’ ownership:
February 14: Modern Times announces it will close four of its eight taprooms, resulting in 73 layoffs.
February 24: Modern Times CEO Jennifer Briggs tells Good Beer Hunting the company is actively seeking a buyer to help alleviate its debt burden.
April 6: Modern Times says it will likely enter financial receivership after one of its lending banks initiated litigation. As a result, a bank appointed an individual to be the “receiver” or financial decision-maker for Modern Times until it could be sold.
May 25: Maui Brewing enters an initial “stalking horse” bid of $7.62 million for Modern Times, which will be sold at auction. The deal would provide Maui a physical foothold and production capacity on the mainland U.S., and would allow Modern Times to continue to exist as a brand and operate its brewery within the larger Maui portfolio.
June 17: At auction, Brewery X emerges as the winning bidder, set to acquire Modern Times for $20 million.
June 20: Lawyers for MTD Asset Acquisition LLC, a competing bidder, file an objection to the outcome of the June 17 auction in which Brewery X was declared the winner. A judge must now rule on the winner of the auction.
June 27: Judge John C. Gastelum of the Superior Court of California in Orange County ruled that representatives of Brewery X are the winners of the auction to acquire Modern Times with a bid of $20 million.
July 7: Briggs states that Brewery X has “elected not to complete the sale process” and that Maui, as the back-up bidder, will instead acquire Modern Times. Maui CEO Garrett Marrero at the time declined to confirm the sale.
After a frantic series of will-they, won’t-they bids to acquire California brewery and coffee company Modern Times, which included two interested parties submitting bids that were accepted as winning offers at different times, one bidder is left standing. For now.
Modern Times CEO Jennifer Briggs on July 7 sent a press release announcing that Brewery X “elected not to complete the sale process” for Modern Times, and that backup bidder Maui Brewing would instead be acquiring the company for $15.3 million. Maui has not yet confirmed this news. Just minutes before Briggs’ announcement, Maui Brewing chief operating Scott Metzger told Good Beer Hunting: “While it is true that Brewery X did fall out as the buyer of Modern Times, there remains a lot of legal complications to work through as to who the ultimate buyer of Modern Times is.”
Maui CEO Garrett Marrero also declined to confirm the sale, telling Good Beer Hunting: "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."
This story will be updated. Read previous coverage of the auction process over Modern Times.
Words by Kate Bernot