2012 was a busy year in corporate mergers and acquisitions. The bevblog.net food and drink mergers and acquisitions database recorded 510 transactions, up 9.4 percent from 466 in 2011.
There were 101 transactions in alcohol, down from 108 in 2011. Of those, 34 were in wine (26 percent increase over 2011), 26 were in beer (43 percent decrease), 23 were in spirits (eight percent decrease), and four were in cider (100 percent increase). Examples include SABMiller’s purchase of Kingway Beer and Bacardi’s acquisition of St. Germain brand liqueur from Cooper Spirits.