Paramount Retail Group has struck a deal to acquire Black Sheep Brewery owner Keystone Brewing Group for £4.5m.
The deal would protect 145 jobs at risk after Keystone filed notice of intent to appoint administrators late last year, Paramount said.
The family-owned investment firm is to combine Saltaire Brewery with Keystone’s stable of beer brands including Black Sheep, Purity Brewing Co, Brew By Numbers, Brick Brewery, North Brewing Company, Magic Rock Brewing and Fourpure Brewing Co to form a new entity called The Great British Drinks Company.
The Great British Drinks Company had combined annual sales of £28m and had been created with the “mission to protect, restore and revitalise iconic British regional beer brands”, said Paramount.
“This isn’t just a restoration deal – it’s about restoring pride to Yorkshire,” said Sunny Sharma, co-founder of Great British Drinks Company. “The region has a proud brewing heritage, and we could not stand by and let that be lost.”
In addition to the £4.5m paid to acquire Keystone’s brands, as well as its two brewing sites in Yorkshire and Warwickshire, Paramount said it had committed a further £2m in investment to “restore the business back to growth”.
Sharma added: “Our approach is to ensure each brewery and its brands maintain their distinctiveness and independence, and that only comes from the people and places involved, not through consolidation. Our ethos is one of stewardship.”
Keystone Brewing Group was formed after private investment group Breal purchased several breweries – including Black Sheep – out of or on the verge of administration between 2023 and 2025.
Despite lofty ambitions to grow annual revenues to £100m via a combination of acquisitions and sales growth, Keystone and a number of its brewing subsidiaries filed notices of intent to appoint administrators last November.
In the wake of the filings, CEO Steve Cox issued a statement insisting Keystone’s business fundamentals “remained strong”.
Cox has since left Keystone, according to his LinkedIn.
The Yorkshire-headquartered Paramount Retail Group entered beer in 2024 with the takeover of Saltaire Brewery.
It also rescued Montezuma’s Chocolate out of administration in 2023 and owns a number of pet businesses, as well majority stakes in lifestyle company Dibor and confectionery businesses Bristows of Devon and Crawford & Tilley.
Last year, it snapped up independent meat wholesaler DB Food Group, taking its combined annual revenues to around £230m.
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