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Brand Wizard Dean Metropoulos Close To Acquiring Pabst

Sources say that C. Dean Metropoulos, who has invigorated prior acquisitions such as Bumble Bee Tuna, Vlasic Pickles, Chef Boyardee, Duncan Hines and Ghirardelli Chocolates, is buying Pabst Brewing Co. for about $250 million, Peter Lattman and David Kesmodel write. He reportedly is being backed by General Electric Co.'s lending arm.

In recent years, the blue-collar Pabst Blue Ribbon has become a cult favorite of hipsters by sponsoring off-beat promotions such as female arm-wrestling and eco-conscious fashion shows. The company also owns Schlitz, Old Style, Lone Star and Colt 45. It's a bit player compared with Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors, however, which jointly control about 79% of the U.S. beer market.

Pabst is currently owned by the Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation, named for Paul Kalmanovitz, who died two years after he bought Pabst in 1985. The Internal Revenue Service ordered it to sell Pabst under a federal law barring charities from owning for-profit businesses for more than five years.

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