Pabst Auction Has a New Bidder: Its Hipster Customers
Ever think you'd be competing against a crowd of young, hip (and possibly drunk) twenty-somethings in an M&A auction? Bet not. Through social networking and crowdsourcing, two ad agencies are hoping to cobble together $300 million in pledges to make a bid on Pabst Brewing Company. In the past two weeks, they've collected $11 million in pledges from cheap-beer aficionados, through BuyaBeerCompany.com. As delusional the whole thing sounds, that's faster than most buyout firms can put together a financing package these days. And face it, if they really approach the company with $300 million in cash (no contingencies!), the sellers may consider the offer, at least for a minute, right? Power to the people, right? Well, probably not. The campaign hasn't actually even contacted Pabst or Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which is running the auction. In fact, the entire campaign, including the purchase price, is based around a Nov. 2 New York Post article declaring the company for sale, all according to one source. For all we know, that $300 million is a dream price that a sell-side banker leaked to the Post to drum up buyer interest. So I hate to dash your hopes of being a “small business owner” or something, dear hipsters, but the Buy a Beer Company campaign is light years behind in the due diligence process.
