By James Atkinson
Former Barons Brewing director Patrick Clarke has acquired the brand's intellectual property (IP) ahead of an intended relaunch early next year.
Clarke, who appointed a liquidator to the Barons companies earlier this month, told TheShout that his new company, Great Southern Brewing, purchased the IP following a national expressions of interest campaign conducted as part of a preliminary asset sell-off.
Clarke said original Barons brewer, Richard Adamson, had agreed to come on board with the new venture and brewing contracts are currently under discussion.
Clarke said Barons has appointed Pure Beverages to handle sales and distribution, and he is also pursuing some direct retail relationships.
Commenting on the brewer's demise, Clarke said Barons had done a great job of brewing and marketing its beers but had been let down in the area of business acumen.
"The consumer has always enjoyed the Barons brand and the beer itself, the priority is just to get the business side of the operation working, with consistency of supply to retailers at the right price."
Clarke is understood to be owed $4.5 million by the collapsed Barons business.
He told TheShout that when he increased his involvement with the brewer 12 months ago it was to try and improve its fortunes.
But he soon realised there was "no way in the world" the brewer would be able to trade itself out of difficulty with its flawed business model and governance structure.
He confirmed he appointed insolvency accounting firm Rodgers Reidy on November 1 to handle the liquidation of the Barons business and pursue key debtors.
Clarke stressed that he ensured no staff were owed any money following the brewer's collapse.