Lion buys Mac brand rights

NELSON - McCashin's Brewery of Nelson has sold the branding rights for its beers to Lion Breweries.

The deal, announced by McCashin's Brewery managing director Terry McCashin, means Lion will take over the sole distribution and marketing of Mac's beers from March 1.

However, Mr McCashin said the sale of intellectual property rights to Lion did not mean the independent Nelson brewery had sold out "to the big boys."

Lion had promised McCashin's would retain its autonomy. Lion's corporate affairs director, Graham Seatter, described McCashin's as the leading microbrewery in the country.

Neither party would disclose the value of the deal.

Mr McCashin said McCashin's Brewery would retain ownership of the brewery and control over the production of the Mac's beer range. The beers would continue to be batch-brewed in Nelson by the McCashin family.

"As long as my signature is on the bottle, the product will be the same," he said.

The partnership would give McCashin's access to Lion marketing expertise to help promote and distribute the beers more widely, as well as money to help pay for a planned expansion of the Stoke brewery. - NZPA