Asahi snaps up craft brewer Cricketers Arms Asahi subsidiary puchases local craft beer brewer Cricketers Arms. The craft end of the Australian brewing sector continues to consolidate with Independent Distillers Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese beverage giant Asahi, to announce later today that it has bought the Cricketers Arms beer brand. The deal marks Independent Distillers' first strategic domestic beer acquisition under Asahi ownership. Asahi purchased Independent Distillers in September 2011. The company said this morning the purchase of Cricketers Arms provides Independent Distillers with a highly creditable domestic mainstream craft beer company to enhance its total beer portfolio. "Cricketers Arms is an outstanding addition to our product portfolio, with its iconic Australian name and in particular its great product range, of which many new products are yet to be seen in the market," said Independent Distillers and Asahi Premium Beverages CEO, Greg Ellery. Mr Ellery said the acquisition of Cricketers Arms bolted on perfectly to the expansion of the beverage company's on-premise and total beer offering. Our on-premise growth strategy is supported by our parent company Asahi, we will continue to look for other acquisition opportunities with a particular focus on on-premise. Our beer/cider portfolio is now very powerful, covering off most sectors of the market - Asahi Super Dry in the super premium segment, Kingfisher in the mid-priced International sector, Cricketers Arms in the mainstream craft and of course Somersby for imported cider. Cricketers Arms chief executive Paul Scott said: "Cricketers Arms was founded on the basis of having a beer with friends, family, workmates and teammates - we coined the phrase 'Cricketers Arms lager, worth going out for'. This is a very exciting time for Cricketers, I'm looking forward to growing the product range and market share and working closely with the great team at Independent Distillers, whose philosophy matches ours. A purchase price has not been disclosed as yet. Earlier this week Woolworths kept its grip on small brewer Gage Roads, maintaining its 25 per cent stake after the craft brewer launched a capital raising.