ZX Ventures Acquires Rest of RateBeer.com
ZX Ventures, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s venture capital arm, has acquired the remaining portion of beer ratings website RateBeer.com that it did not already own.
Financial terms of the deal were not announced, but a spokesperson for ZX Ventures said the transaction had closed.
ZX Venture’s full purchase of RateBeer comes after an initial investment was made in October 2016 and disclosed eight months ago.
According to a ZX Ventures spokesperson, RateBeer will continue to “operate as an independent entity,” and its “rating system will remain unchanged.”
In a statement, ZX Ventures said its acquisition of RateBeer will lead to the expansion of the brand into “new areas,” such as “an affiliate marketplace pilot program in Australia” and further upgrades to the platform’s user experience.
“We enthusiastically support RateBeer’s mission to provide independent, unbiased, consumer-driven information about beer and breweries,” the company said. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to have a partner that shares our passion for helping consumers appreciate great beer.”
In a statement posted to the RateBeer.com forum this morning, co-founder Joe Tucker wrote that consumers wouldn’t see “day-to-day” changes to their experience on the site. He added that he would continue to work for RateBeer as its global community manager.
