Witney's Wychwood Brewery has been sold to rival Marston's, it was announced tonight.
The Staffordshire brewer has bought Refresh, Wychwood's parent company, which brews 50,000 barrels of beer a year at its Eagle Maltings site, in The Crofts, close to Witney town centre.
Its brands include Hobgoblin and Brakspear, while it is also the UK's largest brewer of organic ales, including Duchy Originals Ale, produced for the Prince of Wales, who visited the brewery last October.
Refresh, which is the UK's third biggest supplier of premium bottled ales to supermarkets, had a turnover of £24.9m in the year to May last year and generated underlying earnings of £1.1m.
Marston's has not disclosed a price for the acquisiton. In a statement, it said it was committed to the continuing operation of the Wychwood Brewery.
Marston's already owns the Banks's Brewery in Wolverhampton, Marston's Brewery in Burton upon Trent, Jennings Brewery at Cockermouth in the Lake District and Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire.
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