Written by Sandra Duxbury for The San Francisco Business Times
It’s Anchor’s away in the brewing world, as Fritz Maytag sells the company that helped launch America’s taste for craft beer. Fritz Maytag sold his Anchor Brewing Co., maker of Anchor Steam beer and Junipero Gin, to Griffin Group.
Keith Greggor and Tony Foglio, who helped create Skyy Vodka, lead the Novato-based investment firm. Maytag will remain chairman emeritus of the new business — in part to keep the business in San Francisco, a release said.
Maytag purchased a small San Francisco brewery in 1965 and introduced Anchor Steam beer in 1971. The original brewery itself dates back to 1896, and owing to that history, 72-year-old Maytag has remained committed to keeping the company here.
Greggor and Foglio, a former CEO of Skyy, sold their shares of Skyy to Campari in 2007. In 2009, Griffin invested in BrewDog, one of the U.K.’s largest independent breweries.
Terms of the Anchor Brewing Co. deal were not disclosed.
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Sarah Duxbury covers retail, restaurants, hospitality and nonprofits for the San Francisco Business Times.