Situation

Located in the Yakima Valley, Yakima Chief and Hopunion are two of the world’s most prominent hop processors and marketers. After working together for many years, these two grower-owned enterprises wished to explore the various benefits of joining forces. The respective boards elected a Joint Board Task Force to examine the logic of a business combination and to recommend a mechanism and process to accomplish the combination.

ZS Role

ZS was engaged as financial advisor to the Joint Board Task Force to assist in evaluating the merits and feasibility of a business combination with respect to value and capital structure.

Results

Yakima Chief and Hopunion combined to form Yakima Chief-Hopunion, LLC, one of the world’s largest hop processors, with a unique advantage of serving both international breweries and the growing craft beer segment.