Russian Company to Buy American Brewery Pabst

“Pabst Blue Ribbon is the quintessential American brand – it represents individualism, egalitarianism and freedom of expression – all the things that make this country great,” Oasis Beverages' chairman says.

Pabst Brewing Company, North America’s largest privately held brewing company, is the latest U.S. beer firm to be sold to an international buyer.

Russia-based brewer and beverage company Oasis Beverage and TSG Consumer Partners LLC, an American private equity firm, are partnering to buy PBC. TSG, based in San Francisco and New York, will take a minority stake, The New York Times reported.

The Pabst Brewing company, owned by billionaire investor C.Dean Metropoulos, is best known for Pabst Blue Ribbon, a beer brand that has become a favorite in recent years among hipsters. The Los Angeles-based company has more than 30 beers in its portfolio, according to Pabst's website. Other notable brands include: Colt 45, Old Milwaukee, McSorley's, Stag, Schlitz, and Lone Star.

Oasis Beverages is the biggest independent brewer in Russia, according to the Times.

“Pabst Blue Ribbon is the quintessential American brand – it represents individualism, egalitarianism and freedom of expression – all the things that make this country great,” Oasis' Chairman Eugene Kashper said in a statement. “The opportunity to work with the company’s treasure trove of iconic brands, some of which I started my career selling, is a dream come true. It will be an honor to work with Pabst’s dedicated employees and partner distributors as we continue to build the business.”

Pabst Brewing Company was founded in Milwaukee in 1844 by Jacob Best and later sold to brewing magnate Paul Kalmanovitz. When Kalmanovitz died in 1987, the company was aquired by the Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation. The IRS forced the foundation to sell the company to Metropoulos due to a federal law that bars charities from owning for profit-businesses.

In 2009, one of America’s biggest cultural icons, Anheusher-Busch, was sold to the Belgium-Brazilian brewer InBev.

In 2002, Miller Brewing Co. was sold to South African Breweries PLC for $5.6 billion, creating SABMiller, the world’s second largest beer company in the world.

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