US-based investment firm Meritage Group is reportedly looking to offload local beverages distributor Columbia Distributing.
Sources close to the matter told Reuters the Californian investor could be looking to sell the drinks distributor, which operates in Washington, Oregon and California, for around $2bn, including debt.
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Meritage is said to be working with Morgan Stanley to arrange the potential sale.
The sources added Columbia Distributing makes over $200m in EBITDA.
Just Drinks has contacted Columbia Distributing and Meritage for comment.
Set up in 1935, in 2008 Columbia Distributing merged with Portland’s Mt. Hood Beverage and Oregon-based Gold River Distributing under Columbia Distributing.
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By GlobalDataAccording to its website, in 2018, the business acquired Marine View Beverage in Washington state and General Distributors Inc. in Oregon.
Columbia Distributing distributes over 250 alcoholic and 60 non-alcoholic drinks brands to more than 20,000 on- and off-premise customers in Oregon, Washington and California.
The alcoholic products the company handles include Sazerac’s Fireball whisky and Treasury Wine Estates’ 19 Crimes wines among others, as well as beers and ciders from the likes of Molson Coors, New Belgium and Boston Beer Co.
The group also has a non-alcoholic distribution portfolio, which includes soft drinks like Keurig Dr Pepper’s Canada Dry ginger ales and King Juice Co.’s Calypso lemonades.
Set up in 1997, Meritage operates investments in public and private equity, credit and real estate. It has offices in San Francisco, California, Greenwich, Connecticut and New York City, New York, and manages around $12bn of assets as of January 2024.
The group snapped up Columbia Distributing for an unknown sum in 2012, according to Reuters.
