Reyes Beverage Group has struck a deal in Virginia that will make it the Mid-Atlantic region’s largest beer wholesaler.
Premium Distributors of Virginia, a Reyes subsidiary, has reached an agreement to acquire the assets of Richmond-based Loveland Distributing Company, Reyes announced in a press release.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the transaction is slated to close in early December.
As part of the transaction, Premium Distributors will add 4.6 million cases of beer and take on 2,100 retail accounts from Loveland, according to the release. Premium Distributors also takes over a robust portfolio of brands that includes offerings from MillerCoors, Constellation Brands (Corona, Modelo, Ballast Point, Funky Buddha), Pabst Brewing, Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams, Angry Orchard, Twisted Tea, Truly), Yuengling, Guinness, Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada, Stone Brewing, Bell’s Brewery, and Deschutes, among others.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to grow and expand our operations and the addition of Loveland Distributing Company to the team will only make us more successful,” Premium Distributors of Virginia president PH McLaughlin said, via the release.
In a press release, Loveland president Mark Stepanian, whose family has owned the distributorship since 1958, said he is “confident that the Reyes family will continue to build on our proud legacy, and I look forward to watching the business continue to prosper.”
The move connects Premium Distributors’ footprint with fellow Reyes subsidiary Chesbay Distributing. According to Reyes’ website, the two wholesalers combined to sell more than 18 million cases of beer prior to the acquisition of Loveland.
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Reyes plans to continue operating Loveland’s warehouse in Henrico County, where the wholesaler employs 200 workers.
Reyes, one of the largest beer wholesalers in the U.S., also operates beer distributors in California (Allied Beverages, Crest Beverage, Gate City Beverage, Harbor Distributing, Unique Craft Solutions), Florida (Florida Distributing Company, Gold Coast Beverage), Illinois (Chicago Beverage Systems, Windy City Distributing), Maryland (Premium Distributors of Maryland), South Carolina (Lee Distributors) and Washington, D.C. (Premium Distributors of Washington, D.C.).
Reyes has made headlines in recent months as the distributor has been caught in the middle of a potential distribution shakeup in Southern California. Constellation Brands is reportedly attempting to force Ace Beverage, Triangle Distributing and Beauchamp Distributing Co. to sell the rights to distribute its beer products to Reyes in three Southern California territories.
In June, Constellation forced Markstein Beverage Co.to sell the beer company’s distribution rights in northern San Diego County to Reyes for an undisclosed sum, terminating a 23-year partnership with Markstein in the process.