Beer Marketer's Insights - KEG 1 Strikes Again; Buying Iowa Bev; 4 Deals in 6 Years Totaling 20+ Mil Cases

Overnight, KEG 1 announced its biggest acquisition yet. It will purchase 6.6-mil-case Iowa Beverage in Des Moines. Deal expected to close in summer 2025. Portfolio includes Molson Coors, MAB, Boston, Heineken USA, Pabst, DBCO, plus a range of RTDs, NAs, and D9 bevs spanning Beatbox, Surfside, Jarritos, Calypso, Sparkling Ice, Climbing Kites and more. This "acquisition represents another major milestone for KEG 1 and its partner companies," said Keg 1 Mgt Services in release. This is KEG 1's 4th deal in last 6 yrs, totaling about 20 mil cases. That includes 5.3-mil case Summit in St Lou (2024), almost 5-mil case River City in Louisville (2022) and 4+-mil case Rocky Mountain Bev in Colorado Springs (2019). And that's on top of previous KEG 1 O'Neal operations in TX. So KEG 1 operations now will be over 25 mil cases. It is moving up the ranks of distrib ownership groups.In last few years, KEG 1 also formed K1 Mgt Services which "provides top-tier management and operational support to its subsidiaries and affiliated companies." That includes KEG 1 operations and a few of its member cos (Houston Dist, Caffey Dist in NC, Superior Bev Group in OH). CEO Bo Huggins also owns Houston Dist.Recall, KEG 1 is a group of 10 distribs "spanning 12 states generating a combined annual sales volume of over 120 million cases," release says. The KEG 1 operations are owned collectively while they each independently own the other member cos. Those also include DeCrescente Dist in NY, Faust Dist in TX, Indiana Bev, Gulf Dist Holdings in AL and FL, Northeast Beverage/C&C in RI and CT and Merrimack Valley Distributing in MA. In its last 2 deals (St Lou and Louisville), KEG 1 brought in FEP (Franchise Equity Partners), a private equity co, with a minority stake. No word at presstime on whether FEP will be part of this deal.KEG 1 originally formed as an alternative to Reyes Beverage Group back in 2006. In last few years, it has gathered some momentum. Tho it hasn't won biggest prizes (Nashville, Austin), KEG 1 recently bought a couple of top 50 US metro mkts (St Lou #28, Louisville #43). Des Moines is #82. Interestingly, most of KEG 1's recent acquisitions were in high share states for AB. In IA, AB just fell under 50 share last yr while Constellation at 7. AB had near 60 share as recently as 2020. AB distrib Doll has Constellation in Iowa Bev's mkts.

KEG 1 Strikes Again; Buying Iowa Bev; 4 Deals in 6 Years Totaling 20+ Mil Cases

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