Between eight and 10 people responded to a recent call for bids to buy Tucson’s troubled Nimbus Brewing Co., but only three submitted formal offers.
And now the court-appointed receiver for Nimbus, which has been closed since May 3, is hoping that he will have a buyer soon for the brewery/restaurant at 3850 E. 44th St.
“We’re pretty close. I’m thinking we will have this done in the next two to four weeks,” said Christopher G. Linscott, who was appointed by the court to handle the resolution of Nimbus Brewery as part of ongoing legal wrangling in the divorce of owner James Counts and his former wife, Patricia Counts.
Linscott was tapped by the court on April 6 to sort out Nimbus’ finances and find a way to meet the mandates of the couple’s 2014 divorce. According to court documents, the couple was to split the value of Nimbus, but after three years of back-and-forth discussions, Patricia Counts was still waiting for her share of the business when she sued James Counts in Superior Court.
Within weeks of his appointment, Linscott closed Nimbus after determining the business, one of Tucson’s oldest and longest running craft breweries, didn’t have enough money to operate. In court documents and subsequent court hearings, Linscott attributed part of the business’s woes to James Counts’ deteriorating health. He has battled throat cancer and other illnesses since 2010.
Linscott said two of the three parties that submitted formal bids asked for time to do their “due diligence” on the business, including inspecting equipment and going over finances and legal documents, including the lease.
“Hopefully we’ll have a sale in the near future,” Linscott said.
Nimbus opened in 1996, one of Tucson’s early craft breweries. James Counts became part of the business in 2000 and expanded the operation to include selling bottled beer outside of Tucson. He also opened a spin-off restaurant on the east side that was in business just over three years before it closed in 2014.
