COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The companies that operate the Italian Village Brewery and Kitchen are at an “irreconcilable impasse” over the future of their business partnership.
Marengo-based Hoof Heart Brewing and A&R Creative Group, which owns multiple bars across Columbus, will open Hoof Heart Brewery and Kitchen on North Fourth Street in 2016. affiliated with. And while both parties agree that relations have deteriorated, no agreement has been reached. Who is in charge?
Hoof Hearted Brewing and A&R affiliate 2023 E have filed competing lawsuits against each other, each alleging that the other is in violation of the partnership agreement. Hoof Hearted Brewing has asked the Franklin County Courthouse to dissolve the partnership, which was formally known as Hoof Hearted Brewpub.
In A&R's view, the companies agreed to mutually reimburse each other's costs and “split equally” profits, according to an Oct. 5 complaint against 2023 E's brewery. But A&R has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into operating the brewery and kitchen, including the cost of rental trucks to deliver the beer, warehouse and canning space, and Italian Village brewing equipment. Ing claims he never repaid the money.
Meanwhile, A&R claims that Hoof Hearted Brewing breached the agreement and expanded its business without giving A&R the opportunity to invest. A&R contends that the companies' agreement clearly required an updated cost and profit sharing formula if Hoof Hearted were to expand its Marengo operations.
“This collaboration option to invest in future growth [A&R’s] willing to invest in the partnership,” the 2023 E complaint said.
A complaint filed by Hoof Hearted against A&R six days later describes the situation very differently. For the brewery, A&R's lawsuit was preemptive and “riddled with false claims and misinformation” about Hoof Hearted's conduct and the companies' operating agreement.
Although the two companies met in September 2023 to resolve their differences and amend their partnership, Hoof Hearted alleges that A&R filed suit instead of intervening in good faith.
“What is not yet clear is that [Hoof Hearted] and 2023 E are currently at an irreconcilable impasse, making it impossible to continue the Company's activities in accordance with the Operating Agreement. ”
Hoof Hearted claims its relationship with A&R began to deteriorate in late 2021, when the restaurant group became “completely unable to meet its financial commitments.” The brewery alleges that A&R did not repay the costs of producing the alcohol and mismanaged the Italian Village location. Meanwhile, Hoof Hearted claims A&R has begun investing in a competing brewery concept, Yellow Springs Brewery Taproom and Kitchen.
Both sides denied the other's claims. Hoof Hearted said it did not expand its business beyond the limits outlined in the contract, but even if it did, the contract did not require it to automatically loop in A&R. Rather, the agreement's expansion provisions apply only to joint ventures.
