As well as OSH, the brands being acquired by Damm UK also includes Old Golden Hen, Old Craft Hen and Old Master Hen, brands acquired by Greene King following the purchase of the old Morland Brewery in 2000.
It is expected OSH will be brewed at Damm Eagle Brewery in Bedford from June next year but until then, it will continue to brewed at Greene King’s Westgate Brewery.
The OSH brands will continue to be available in Greene King pubs and the off-trade.
Greene King CEO Nick Mackenzie said: “We are proud to have built Old Speckled Hen into one of the nation’s favourite ales over the past 25 years and are delighted to have secured a partner in Estrella Damm brewer Damm UK, which will continue to brew the ales in the UK.
“We look forward to working closely in partnership with Damm and seeing OSH’s future success under its ownership.”
Damm UK officially opened its Bedford brewery in October last year after investing £70m in a bid to modernise the site.
The ‘unprecedented’ investment was part of the company’s aim to be the UK’s largest independent beer company.
Damm acquired the brewery from what was Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (now Carlsberg Britvic) for an undisclosed sum in November 2022.
On the latest announcement, Damm UK managing director Luke White said: “Old Speckled Hen is an iconic British ale brand with a rich heritage and loyal following and we are proud Greene King has chosen Damm UK to take the brand forward into its next chapter.
“We have great respect for the history Greene King has built around Old Speckled Hen over the past 25 years and look forward to working closely together throughout the transition period to ensure continued success for the brand, customers and consumers alike.
“The brand not only complements the current portfolio range by adding another category to our offering but it also reconnects the Damm Eagle Brewery to its historic British beer and ale production roots.”
The deal comes as Greene King announced a new brewing strategy, which it said was focused on the pub trade.
Mackenzie told The Morning Advertiser: “We are introducing the new brewing strategy from June next year.
“This is very much about us planning to focus on brewing our beers but then selling them in our pubs as well as through the independent free trade and other venues we’ve got so a real focus on our beers in our pubs.
“That’s about us growing market share in a really important market for us, which is the on-trade.”
He highlighted how this not only taps into the company’s history and heritage but also aims to strengthen the link between its pubs and beers.
“That’s really our legacy and our heritage is selling our beers, in our pubs, which we’ve been doing for 200 years. There’s a nice story to this but it’s all part of a long term strategy,” Mackenzie said.
“What it does mean is we’ll be moving away from the off-trade channels and export channels.
“That’s just for Bury St Edmunds, that doesn’t include Belhaven, our Scottish brewery.
“From the middle of next year, we won’t be selling packaged, bottled or canned products. This will be purely us selling into the on-trade.”
Just over two years ago, the business revealed it was investing £40m into the development of a new custom-built state-of-the-art brewery in Bury St Edmunds as part of its sustainability goals. The site is on track to open next June.
Mackenzie outlined how the investment in the new brewery is futureproofing the brewing business in a challenging market.
Mackenzie said: “Brewing beer in Bury St Edmunds to be sold in pubs is what we have been doing for more than 200 years.
“By making this core to our renewed brewing strategy, we are proposing optimising our brewing operations to focus on winning where we are strongest, delivering our beers to the pubs where our customers most love to drink them and setting Greene King up for long-term profitable growth.”
