Our long national nightmare will soon be over.
Russell Brewing (RB.V), the beer deal that soured the market on all other beer deals, appears to be all but dissolved after shareholders approved and the company closed an asset sale that sees their Fort Garry brew assets shifted for $7.75 million in cash.
The remainder of RB’s brewing assets have been approved for sale to a numbered company owned by Yong Lin and Xiaomin Wang, for $1.8 million. Both sales come with a slew of conditions.
Russell management opted to find buyers for their assets after several years of struggling with debt, permanently low share prices, and flatlined revenues.
In 2006, the company hit the markets at a premium, but never again came close to it’s $0.73 record, having slumped to under $0.10 by 2010, and never recovering. Ironically, news of the company sell-off saw stock rise to its highest level in several years, with today’s $0.065 share price valuing the company at $6 million, substantially below the expected per share value post break-up.
The company intends to pass the cash from the sales back to shareholders.
— Chris Parry