Recent Chapter 11 filings by alcohol producers reveal where enterprise value is migrating: from tangible assets a court can readily identify and liquidate to continuity-reliant assets—inventory whose value is indeterminable at the petition date—and to distribution and licensing channels governed more by statutes than contracts.
This shift is happening as demand flattens and alcohol is no longer underwritten as a growth Consumer Packaged Goods business. Scale determines whether a company survives. Jim Beam’s decision to pause distillation at its main Kentucky facility reflects the ability to normalize inventory without impairing liquidity or market position—a luxury that smaller operators can ...