Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney Sell Wrexham Stake for New Venture

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have chronicled their work as owners of Wales' Wrexham AFC soccer team in their FX series Welcome to Wrexham. Now, having worked to build up the brand, the actors are selling off a portion of their ownership of the team to work on another business venture together—though they won't have to go too far. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the duo is selling a minority stake in Wrexham AFC and acquiring a local brewery in an effort to expand the club and its influence. They're selling the stake to the wealthy New York-based Allyn family and are taking over Wrexham Lager beer company with a new joint venture called Red Dragon Ventures. 

"Wrexham has earned the world’s attention and we are focused on bringing on board world-class partners to help with the next phase of our growth," Reynolds and McElhenney said in a statement. "We have been fortunate to get to know the Allyn family and we are blown away by their intelligence, kindness, and commitment. They are exactly the type of partners we will need for this amazing endeavor."

Their new business partners are equally excited about the opportunity. 

"For more than a century, our family has focused on building great companies, while also uplifting wonderful communities,” Allyn's Family Office manager Eric Allyn said. added Eric Allyn. "Our decades-long efforts in the Syracuse region are similar to what Rob and Ryan have started in Wrexham. We view Red Dragon Ventures as a vehicle to invest in a world-class football club, and, importantly, in the welcoming community of Wrexham."

Wrexham Lager is by no means a new beer brand. It was founded in Wales in 1882 and is the oldest still-operational lager brewery in the U.K. Passengers aboard the Titanic even drank it, and Reynolds was reportedly so interested in the brand that he claims to have commissioned a dive to the famous shipwreck last year in the hope of salvaging some bottles. Lucky Welcome to Wrexham fans and beer lovers in the U.S. and Canada will get to taste the lager for themselves as North American distribution gets underway in the coming months. 

"As co-chairmen of Wrexham AFC we have learned a lot," the actors said of the new venture. "The connection between club and community, the intricacies of the offsides rule and the occasional need for beer—especially after finance meetings. Wrexham Lager has a 140-year-old recipe and a storied history and we’re excited to help write its next chapter."