Lagunitas Brewing Co. turns to GE Capital for new brewery needs

July 30, 2014Jason Morgan

Lagunitas, founded in 1991 and headquartered in Petaluma, Calif., is one of the nation’s fastest-growing craft brewers.

In today’s craft brewing industry, expansion is often more challenging than initial success. There comes a time for each successful craft brewery to decide how to go about building its business. Lagunitas Brewing Co. turned to GE Capital, Corporate Finance for a $20 million credit to equip its new Chicago Brewery.

Lagunitas is opening a 600,000-barrel (bbl) capacity brewery in the Douglas Park neighborhood of Chicago, where it held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 17.

“GE Capital understands the craft beer industry and worked closely with us to develop the right financing solution,” said Tony Magee chief executive officer of Lagunitas. “Having a lender with targeted industry expertise helps us to meet our growth and expansion needs.”

“Lagunitas has been on a remarkable growth trajectory, and we are excited to be able to work with them to expand to a new brewery in Chicago,” said Chris Nay, senior managing director, Food & Beverage, GE Capital, Corporate Finance. “Helping mid-size companies achieve their growth plans is our specialty.”