The Chapter 11 protection means the North Austin brewery and its parent
company, FFBC Operations, have avoided foreclosure. Celis plans to
continue operating out of its 22,000-square-foot facility at 10001
Metric Blvd. According to bankruptcy court documents, Celis intends to
reorganize or to pursue a sale of the company to new ownership, perhaps
both.
We are talking to an investor. If those discussions or discussions with
other potential buyers don’t work out, we may try to do an auction. But
that’s not our current goal,” Taube said Tuesday.A May article published
by craft beer news outlet Brewbound noted a possible sale of the
brewery to an outside investor group that includes John Nelson, the
owner of an Austin-based construction company.
One of the things Celis sought when filing for bankruptcy was the
ability to continue brewing and running the taproom. The court ruled
that, for now, the brewery can use cash collateral — in this case, the
money collected from customers — to keep operations going. The
distributors that work with Celis to send canned and bottled beers to
the Texas market will continue to do so, reserving shelf space for the
brand, according to a news release sent late Tuesday.
As part of its plans for business as usual, Celis Brewery will host a
two-year anniversary celebration on July 11. That also marks 27 years to
the day since Pierre Celis, the father of founder Christine Celis,
opened his original brewery of the same name in 1992.The brewery
increased beer production last year by 320 percent, making 11,339
barrels of beer on a system that can produce up to 50,000. Celis also
was contract-brewing with a few local brands, including Uncle Billy’s,
Pedernales and Lake Austin Ales, filling some additional capacity on the
expensive brewhouse. But according to Brewbound, the brewery misfired
on a couple crucial business decisions, including overpaying on the
brewing system and relying on business models it found unsustainable.
It’s a mistake that Christine Celis acknowledged in the news release.
“Even though our beer has been one of the fastest growing craft (brands)
in Texas, the financial model we started with put us in a cash crunch
that simply did not give us any room to maneuver in a highly competitive
market,” she said. “We intend to fix all of that through the Chapter 11
process. It will allow us to continue to make my dad’s legendary beers
and grow within more realistic parameters.”
Celis owes more than $5 million to Amplify Credit Union through a loan
that uses the property on Metric Boulevard as collateral. An auction of
the property would have taken place Tuesday. Because of the bankruptcy
filing, that foreclosure is on hold. Celis also owes another $3 million
to Amplify through a federal Small Business Administration loan.
The remainder of Celis’ debt is spread among additional companies,
including Ampersand Design Studio, which designed the brewery’s logo and
packaging, and the Ball Corporation, which supplies the aluminum cans.
Celis makes a mix of both Pierre Celis’ original recipes — including the
famous Celis White that converted many locals to craft beer in the
1990s — and newly invented recipes from the current brewers. Christine
Celis’ daughter, Daytona Camps, works on the brewing team and helped to
create beers like the Juicy IPA.
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