This Popular Boxed Wine Just Got Scooped Up By Budweiser's Parent Company

Anheuser-Busch announced this week that it is adding Texas-based BeatBox, a brand of ready-to-drink alcoholic punch, to its "beyond beer" product line. You may not be aware of all of the beer brands Anheuser Busch owns, and the same likely applies to the company's non-beer products as well. The alcoholic beverage giant already owns NÜTRL Vodka Seltzer and Cutwater Spirits, but this newest acquisition will expand the company's scope to also include a line of fruit-forward beverages in self-described "party punch" flavors. The deal is expected to close early next year, with Anheuser Busch paying a whopping $490 million for an 85% stake of BeatBox. The deal also includes a path to full ownership for Anheuser Busch over the next five years.

Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Anheuser-Busch, expressed his excitement about the deal in the joint press release, citing the fast growth of BeatBox in the ready-to-drink market, as well as the ability of the BeatBox team to connect with the brand's customers. Co-founder and CEO of BeatBox Justin Fenchel noted the brand's growth over the past 14 years in the release. Taking a company from an MBA project to a valuation of over half a billion dollars is quite an achievement — especially in such a short time — but according to Fenchel, the focus for the founders is the same that it has always been: "bringing people together and making the world more fun!"

BeatBox got its start in 2011 as an MBA project at UT Austin. From the start, the idea was to create a party-ready boxed drink in interesting and creative flavors. The alcoholic base of BeatBox is orange wine, which the company says drinks more like a spirit, making it a perfect pairing for its more than 13 bold flavors like blue razzberry, fruit punch, cherry limeade, and orange blast. Orange wine is basically just white wine made in the style of red wine, where the juice is fermented along with the skins, giving it an orange hue. It is a mild and slightly tannic wine variety that certainly doesn't stand in the way of the punchy flavors of BeatBox.

BeatBox first reached widespread recognition in 2014, when the company partnered with Mark Cuban on Shark Tank. In that deal, Cuban paid $1 million for a 33% stake of the company, bringing its valuation up to $3 million, which was already 50% higher than the BeatBox founders were initially asking. The product has evolved since then, transforming from its original large, 5-liter boxes to much smaller 16.9-ounce packages, as well as adding many new flavors. The reach of the brand has also grown tremendously during this time, bringing the company's value from $3 million to $575 million in just over a decade. Not bad for a brand that didn't perform well on our ranking of the best hard lemonade beverages.