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Adnams, one of the most historic names in British brewing, is to explore an outright sale amid a funding squeeze across the industry which has triggered a growing wave of insolvencies.
Sky News has learnt that Adnams has begun contacting prospective investors and buyers after hiring advisers earlier this year to shore up its finances.
A source close to the 134 year-old Suffolk brewery acknowledged that a full sale of the company was now an option, having indicated last month that it was not under consideration.
They insisted, however, that Adnams’ preferred routes to raising capital remained a funding injection from a high net worth investor or family office.
The sale of some of its freehold assets from its estate of pubs and inns would also be considered, they added.
The objective of the plan is said to be to raise capital to pay down bank debt and fund further growth initiatives.
Advisers from Alvarez & Marsal are working with the company, which remains partly owned by members of its founding family.
A spokesman for Adnams, whose B-shares are listed on the junior stock market Aquis, told Sky News last month: “We have instructed advisors to explore a range of options to fund our future growth plans.”
It declined to comment further on the possibility of a sale.
The appointment of A&M comes several months after Dr Jonathan Adnams, the company’s long-standing chairman, told investors that continued inflationary pressures were having a detrimental effect on consumer demand.
Operating losses in the first half of its financial year increased to £2.4m on flat revenues of about £30m.
Dr Adnams pointed to the ongoing slump in the number of pubs across Britain, and a 25% decline in the size of the cask beer market since 2019.
Adnams’ best-known products include a strong ale called Broadside, Kobold lager and Blackshore stout.
It has also diversified into the no and low-alcohol beer categories, with Ghost Ship, a 0.5% ABV product, now among its…
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