Boozy IPOs: Equity financing and the return of legal spirits after prohibition

Abstract Public equity financing played an important but little appreciated role in the revival of the U.S. distilled spirits industry following the Repeal of National Prohibition. Drawing on the monthly “new capital flotations” reports of the Commercial and Financial Chronicle and a search of contemporary newspapers, we identify 37 distillery stock issuances between May 1933 and October 1934 that raised more than $30 million. The proceeds financed the rehabilitation of long-idle plants, purchases of new equipment, and acquisitions of defunct brands. We situate those offerings within the broader wave of alcohol-related flotations by breweries, wineries, cooperages, malt producers, and distributors that accounted for more than half the dollar value of all U.S. stock issuances reported during the period around Repeal.