Molson Coors completes divestment of brewery in Irwindale, California

Molson Coors Beverage Company has completed the divesture of its brewery in Irwindale, California to Irwindale Brew Yard (IBY), a subsidiary of Pabst Brewing Company.

In January, Molson Coors unveiled its plans to close production at its 40-year old brewery in Irwindale, California by September.

At that time, the company granted Pabst an option to acquire the brewery for $150m.

Irwindale Brew Yard president Adam Sher said: “We are pleased to complete the acquisition of the Irwindale Brewery property.

“We are continuing to conduct our feasibility study to determine whether there is a path to reopen and operate the brewery at a later date and are committed to choosing a path forward that is in the best interest of all our stakeholders.”

It is Molson Coors’ lowest-volume brewery in the US.

Established in 1980, the Irwindale brewery employs nearly 470 people. Last year, the brewery produced 4.8 million barrels, shipping products to 261 distributors.

It produced brands such as Coors Light, Miller Lite, Miller High Life, MGD, Steel Reserve and Miller 64.

The beverage company said that the decision to cease production at the facility was not part of the company’s corporate restructuring and revitalisation plan announced in October 2019.

Molson Coors chief financial officer Tracey Joubert said: “The sale of the Irwindale facility allows us to streamline our operations for greater efficiency across our network and further strengthen our liquidity.”

The company said that it already moved the production from Irwindale to its other breweries located in Golden, Colorado and Fort Worth in Texas.