Whole Lotta Brand Swappin’ Goin’ on in St Lou
St Lou metro MillerCoors wholesaler Summit has finally sold his portfolio of InBev brands to 5 Bud distribs, Grey Eagle, Krey, Lohr, Herrell and Mullaly, and the Bud guys swapped Grolsch to Summit, wrote St Lou Biz Jnl. Not exactly an equal exchange. So what broke the longterm logjam? Well, Summit also acquired the Heineken USA portfolio in part of its territory from Major Brands, expanding its footprint with HUSA. Major Brands apparently the facilitator. Recall, Major Brands is the St Lou based wine and spirits distrib owned by Todd Epsten, who also recently hired AB veep Tony Short. And Major Brands also owns Oreg AB distrib Western Brands. Major Brands likely looking to get bigger and helping out AB in its home mkt probably didn’t hurt. Then too, Missouri has become something of a hotbed of deal making activity lately. Grey Eagle and Krey recently acquired Missouri Eagle LLC in Washington. Summit also bought tiny Miller distrib Calvin’s in 2010. And Lohr also added a number of craft brands in Oct, Biz Jnl reminded.
Publishing Info
- Newsletter: INSIGHTS Express
- Published: 02/15/2011
- Volume: 13
- Issue #: 16