18th April, 2018 by Amy Hopkins

A subsidiary of brewing giant AB InBev has acquired the parent company of Master of Malt, Atom Brands and Maverick Drinks.

ZX Ventures, which is the growth and innovation unit of AB InBev, has purchased Atom Group for an undisclosed sum.

Following the deal, Atom Group, based in Kent, UK, said it will be able to scale up its global operations and “supercharge” its e-commerce platform.

The group is made up of three business units: online retailer Master of Malt; spirits producer Atom Brands; and distributor Maverick Drinks, which is dedicated to ‘craft’ spirits.

Atom Brands’ portfolio includes the Ableforth’s line of spirits, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, That Boutique-y Gin Company, and more.

The leadership team for Atom Group will remain in place and oversee a team of 175 staff. Atom Group was founded by Justin Petszaft and three business partners: Ben Ellefsen, Tom McGuinness and Joel Kelly.

“This deal is an amazing moment for our business, which has gone from working out of a shed in Kent to one of the UK’s fastest-growing companies,” said Petszaf, managing director of Atom Group.

“We’ve always been a technology-focused business, building our e-commerce platform from scratch to give consumers the best experience possible and we recognised a kindred spirit in ZX Ventures, in its mission to innovate, grow and answer new consumer demands.

“We can’t wait to supercharge our business with ZX Ventures and share our tech expertise with their team as well.”

ZX Ventures was set up in 2015 “to understand and address emerging consumer demands”.

Andy Logan, e-commerce director at ZX Ventures, said: “We were set up to help other ambitious, innovative businesses unlock their potential, and that’s what this deal is all about.

“We loved the leadership team’s passion and enthusiasm for innovation and saw a really good cultural fit. We’re really excited about welcoming the Atom Group family into ZX Ventures and learning from the e-commerce expertise of the Master of Malt team.”

Earlier today, Master of Malt announced that it had ceased shipping to the US.

A post on the retailers’ blog stated: “We are working very hard on ways to be able to provide services again with the help of wholesale and retail partners based in-country.”