Displaying items tagged: Alliance Beverage Distributing LLC

GRAND RAPIDS — An established West Michigan brewery whose products are available on shelves statewide is taking a novel approach to getting its newest brand out to market. 

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for March 19, 2018.

• M&A: Kalamazoo-based Imperial Beverage Co. will enter the Upper Peninsula market after acquiring the beer distribution business of Bayside Beverage from Highland Park-based Great Lakes Wine & Spirits LLC. The move also consolidates distribution for the MillerCoors family of brands as well as opens a new territory for Imperial, which now has four locations in Michigan, according to President Joe Cekola. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal included an 18,000-square-foot warehouse facility in Ishpeming, Mich. as well as distribution rights for Constellation Brands’ import portfolio, the Boston Beer Co. family of brands and a handful of craft beer brands, including Michigan-based Griffin Claw Brewing Co. and Latitude 42 Brewing Co. Imperial plans to hire roughly 20 employees as a result of the acquisition, including four employees from Bayside. A year ago, Imperial also expanded into spirits as an authorized distributor agent for the state. For Great Lakes Wine & Spirits, the deal follows an August sale of beer distribution rights in Traverse City and Petoskey to Grand Rapids-based Alliance Beverage Distributing LLC.

After a frenzied period of M&A activity for craft breweries, industry insiders and investors expect the pace of deals to moderate in the near future.

GRAND RAPIDS  — Alliance Beverage Distributing LLC plans to expand into the northern Lower Peninsula by acquiring another wholesaler’s beer distribution rights, MiBiz has learned.

With more than 5,300 craft brewers already on the market, and many more scheduled to open in the near future, the craft brewing industry has started to mature.