CHICAGO (AP) — St. Louis-based beer giant Anheuser-Busch is buying Chicago-based Goose Island brewery for $38.8 million in a deal announced Monday.
Anheuser-Busch says the move will help Goose Island meet a growing demand for Honkers Ale and its other brands. Anheuser-Busch has distributed Goose Island beers since 2006.
Goose Island founder and president John Hall will stay on as chief executive officer. Chicago's two Goose Island brew pubs are not part of the deal and will continue operating.
The deal needs regulators' approval and is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.
Anheuser-Busch is buying 58 percent of Fulton Street Brewery, Goose Island's legal name, for $22.5 million and the remaining 42 percent from Portland, Ore.-based Craft Brewers Alliance Inc. for $16.3 million.