The Reyes Beer Division continues to wheel and deal. Just one day after revealing a 16 million case deal for Capitol Wright Distributing near Austin, Texas, the largest beer wholesaler in the U.S. announced today an agreement to acquire Paradise Beverage in Hawaii, the company’s 12th market.
The transaction is slated to close in early December. Once closed, Reyes will add about 8.9 million cases and 2,300 customers to its operations. Key suppliers include Molson Coors, Constellation Brands, Boston Beer Company, Diageo, Heineken USA and Maui Brewing.
The addition of Paradise, Capitol Wright (slated to close in December) and DET Distributing in Tennessee (expected to close in November) will put Reyes’ case volume firmly above 300 million cases.
Reyes will operate Paradise under the Hawaii Beverage LLC banner and maintain the distributor’s five facilities across the state.
“On the heels of announcing new business in Tennessee and Texas, we are humbled by this opportunity in Hawaii,” Reyes Beer Division CEO Tom Day said in a press release. “We are fortunate to be in the position of accelerated growth that we’re in today – and it’s all thanks to our hard working teams. We wouldn’t be here, or be approached for opportunities like these, without our employees, their high standards of excellence and the service they provide to our suppliers and customers every day.”
Tom Reyes, president of Reyes Beer Division West, noted in the release that the Paradise deal is the first expansion of the Reyes Beer Division West footprint outside of California.
“Paradise and Reyes have similar missions and values rooted in integrity and excellence and we are eager to join our teams and get to work,” he added.
“Our family has been incredibly honored to have been owners of Paradise Beverages for over four decades and it is bittersweet to say goodbye to this company and its exceptional group of people,” Anderson Holdings chairman and CEO William Anderson said in the release. “I am extremely grateful to John Erickson, president of Paradise Beverages, for his exemplary leadership and his team’s hard work to build an organization of which our family is very proud. We strongly believe that Reyes is the right owner going forward and will continue to build on Paradise’s strong performance and deliver excellence for our many long-term customers, employees, and the Hawaiian business community.”
Paradise Beverage was founded in 1948 as the Crockett Sales Company, according to its website. The company, which adopted its current name in 1976, grew by acquisition several times in its history, adding the Coors and Stroh brands in 1980 and the portfolio of McKesson Wine & Spirits in 1988. Paradise acquired rights to Miller in 1995 and Heineken and Samuel Adams in 1996.