Royal Unibrew has strengthened its domestic beer presence with the acquisition of Danish beer brand Too Old To Die Young.
The Nordic beverage group has been distributing Too Old To Die Young’s beer portfolio, available in the on-premise in Denmark, since April 2022.
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The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will see Royal Unibrew take over production, sales and marketing of the brand from its founders as well as rights to the brand from nightlife conglomerate Rekom Group.
Too Old To Die Young’s founders will join Royal Unibrew and “continue to contribute their expertise”, the company said in a statement.
Faxe, Denmark-headquartered Royal Unibrew said Too Old To Die Young was “a strong and exciting brand with significant potential”.
A spokesperson told Just Drinks: “We see strength in expanding our craft beer portfolio and allowing each of our brands to play its role for the benefit of our customers and consumers, providing them with more choices… With Too Old To Die Young, we are now even stronger in the premium craft segment.”
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By GlobalDataRoyal Unibrew said its plans for the brand include expanding its range of beers and looking at packaging.
“As a natural part of taking over a brand, we will soon start looking into new flavors and packaging so that we can further develop Too Old To Die Young and elevate the brand to the next level,” the spokesperson said.
Jesper Larsen, director and co-founder of Too Old To Die Young, said Royal Unibrew had “proven its ability to further develop” the brand “with its strong and diverse portfolio in craft and premium beer”.
Danny Nordberg Nielsen, CEO of brands and distribution at Rekom Group, admitted Royal Unibrew would be able to bring wider commercial success to the brand than the nightlife group had capacity for.
“We are very proud of the beer universe we have contributed to the creation of together with the super-dedicated founders,” Nordberg Nielsen said. “But we also recognise that extra efforts are needed to give Too Old To Die Young commercial success – efforts that we would rather use to develop Rekom Group’s strategic focus areas. We are therefore pleased that Royal Unibrew will now ensure the continued development of Too Old To Die Young.”
In its third-quarter results, released in November, Royal Unibrew signalled plans to increase prices next year amid continued pressure on costs.
The group posted a 1.2% rise in revenue to DKr3.34bn ($491.2m). On an organic basis, net revenue fell 1%. Volumes slid by 7% and by 8% on an organic basis to 3.5m hectolitres.
Third-quarter EBIT stood at DKr507m, versus DKr490m in the corresponding period a year earlier. On an organic basis, EBIT was up 2%. Royal Unibrew pointed to efforts to increase prices to cover input inflation.
In July, Royal Unibrew bought a beer production facility from Italy’s Birra Castello to alleviate capacity constraints. Italy is part of Royal Unibrew’s Western Europe division, which in 2022 represented 12% of the group’s volumes.
