Sale Of Mitchell’s To Falstaff Brewing Expected Saturday

April 12, 1956

The sale of El Paso’s Mitchell Brewing Co. to the Falstaff Brewing Corp. of St. Louis appeared imminent Wednesday.

The final decision on the sale will come Saturday at a stockholders meeting in the brewery at 205 N. Latta St. At that time proxies will be counted and if the necessary 80 per cent of the stock is voted in favor of the move the sale will, in all probability, be confirmed.

Local bar owners reported this week that Mitchell’s sales representatives had stopped calling on some establishments.

Also, the Falstaff Sales Co. recently sent out a form letter to most local bar owners and liquor dealers setting up a new price schedule for their product, based on local production.

The letter stated that Falstaff beer will be furnished from other of the company’s breweries until such time as Falstaff is produced locally, one bar owner told the Times.

BEING SOLD LOCALLY

Also, for the first time, Falstaff draft beer is being sold locally and some 90 taverns in the El Paso area already have contracted for it, an informed source said.

Charles A. Kuper, president of Mitchell Brewing Co., would not comment on the sale Wednesday night. He confirmed, however, that the brewery has discontinued draft beer and that the company was making no beer at all, pending the outcome of the stockholders’ meeting Saturday.

It was learned Wednesday that existing stocks of Mitchell’s Beer were being sold at a reduced price.

Kuper said there are 850 to 900 individual stockholders in the Mitchell Brewing Co.

PRICE TO TOP MILLION

When it was first learned that Falstaff was negotiating for the local brewery, in February of this year, speculation was that the price would be “in excess of $1.5 million.”

It was learned Wednesday from a reliable source that if the sale does go through, Walter A. Vetter, now a vice president, will become resident manager of the brewery for Falstaff.

The local brewery was founded in 1935, just after the repeal of prohibition, by Harry Mitchell, a noted and colorful citizen of El Paso and the border.

Mitchell sold the brewery in July, 1951. The price was not disclosed, although it was said at the time that the brewery was valued at $3 million.

SALES, VOLUME UP

Sales and dollar volume of the brewery jumped 80 per cent in three years after the sale.

Falstaff, one of the nation’s largest brewing companies, now owns seven breweries.

It was learned after first negotiations began that one plan was to offer stockholders in the Mitchell Brewing Co. $4 a share at 4.5 per cent on 15-year debentures. The cash assets presumably would be distributed to stockholders in the form of a dividend of 50 cents to $1.

Comments

[David Middlecamp]

This is the first context outside of a game of Monopoly that I have heard the term debentures used.
A little Polident should clean them right up.

[Doug Arnold]

My Grandfather worked as an accountant for Mitchells sometime in the 40's or 50's.

Thanks for a great story

[anarchitek]

My dad worked for Mitchell's/State Distributing off and on, from around 1946 to 1954. He drove a route truck, and worked in the main office, in El Paso, in 1952 and '53. He left because they wanted him in the office, but he was better suited outside. He always enjoyed telling a story of taking a case of Mitchell's to a beer convention in Albuquerque, probably 1951 or '52, and everyone there wanting to drink Mitchell's instead of whatever brand they were repping. It was a great beer, but the modern breweries killed the little guys, mass quantities over quality.

[boom lift]

Yeah, Thanks for a good story. Now I know more about Mitchells.

Luigi Hanway

[VINCE VILLARREAL]

hi , thats a real neat story , but one question
do you have any old pictures of the Harry\
mitchell brewing co ,at 3801 frutas and latta
in the early years 1904 1918 and newer.
I would like to purches some old photo of the
brewery!
Can you please e-mail and let me known if
you have any or where I can get the photos
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
VINCE
E-MAIL:[email protected]!