Specialty Brewer Plans To Go Public

Redhook Ale Brewery Inc. plans to go public by selling as many as 2.25 million shares of stock and trading on the Nasdaq exchange.

The Seattle-based specialty brewer plans to sell 1,956,614 shares at $13 to $15 apiece, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The underwriters - Smith Barney, Piper Jaffray and Montgomery Securities - have an option to buy 293,492 shares more if demand warrants.

In addition, 618,883 shares would be sold to Anheuser-Busch Inc. to maintain the 25 percent stake it bought in Redhook last year.

The 2.25 million shares would represent 26 percent of Redhook’s 8.6 million shares outstanding after the sale.

Redhook, founded in 1981, has breweries in Seattle and Woodinville, and one being built in Portsmouth, N.H. It produces six products, has a national distribution agreement with Anheuser-Busch and posted sales last year of $15 million.