THE BIG GET BIGGER: TWO W/S DISTRIBUTORS COMBINE BROKERAGE UNITS

As you may recall, we reported last week that Southern Wine & Spirits and Alaska Distributors Co. were entering into a joint venture in six control states. Now it's official, and the details are a little different than we reporated.


The two companies announced yesterday a strategic partnership aimed at strengthening their wine and spirits brokerage operations across six northwest control states.


A division of Alaska Distributors Co, formally Spirits West, will combine with SW&S to form the Southern Wine/Spirits West operation and will cover the control markets of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. The deal is set to close in the next six weeks, probably sometime in May.


Wayne Chaplin, president and COO of SW&S, called the venture “another landmark in the history of Southern Wine & Spirits,” while Steve Loeb, president and CEO of Alaska Distributors Co., expressed a similar sentiment: “It’s an exciting day for our Spirits West Division to partner with Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc.”


The deal marks the latest in strategic partnerships that are taking place all across the fruited plain among wine and spirits houses, with all players jockeying for scale in order to attract and keep their main liquor suppliers. We expect this trend to continue, with more straight M&As and more joint ventures. Stay tuned....it's going to be a wild ride.