Odell Brewing Company (Fort, Collins, CO) is selling majority interest in the brewery to the employees. This comes 26 years after Doug, Wynne, and Corkie Odell started the brewery in 1989.
The founders have sold 19% of the brewery’s stock into a newly formed Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP), in which all co-workers participate. Ultimately, the stock in the ESOP will increase in value as the company grows. As Doug Odell stated –
“the craft beer industry is changing dramatically and we have seen several of our friends and neighbors selling their companies, in whole or part, to major brewers and private equity firms. While these options are more lucrative than the one we chose, we believe that the people who built OBC are the best ones to lead us successfully into the future.”
Odell Brewing Company founders will remain in active management, and Wynne will continue to serve as CEO.
