Pirate Life used the same excuse when they were bought out a few years ago...
Hard to tell whether it is genuinely difficult to expand into the heavy league without the big end of town providing some support or the owners had just had enough, fancied a pay day and recycled a vaguely plausible reason.
Brewing is very capital intensive - you need deep pockets to start a brewery that is large enough to be commercially viable, and a lot more cash to scale up.
S&W is a ‘victim’ of it’s own success IMO. The business had probably grown to the point where it wasn’t about the beer any more, and more about growing pains, corporate overheads and cash flow. Little Creatures, Pirate Life, Four Pines, Balter etc. have all gone the same way.
The market for mainstream beers like VB, XXXX, Tooheys New and so on is also on the decline, as younger drinkers choose boutique beers, other types of alcohol, or abstinence. The big players need to replace that shrinking revenue stream and microbreweries are fair game.
I’d rather see them bought by a beverage company like Lion than some private equity player that’s simply in it to sweat money out of the brand.