US-based investment firm Meritage Group is reportedly looking to sell local beverage distributor Columbia Distributing.
Sources familiar with the matter said Reuters The Californian investor may want to sell the beverage retailer, which operates in Washington, Oregon and California, for around $2 billion including debt.
Meritage is reportedly working with Morgan Stanley to arrange the potential sale.
The sources added that Columbia Distributing generates EBITDA of over $200 million.
Drinks only has contacted Columbia Distributing and Meritage for comment.
Columbia Distributing was founded in 1935 and merged with Mt. Hood Beverage of Portland and Gold River Distributing of Oregon in 2008 to form Columbia Distributing.
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According to the company’s website, the company acquired Marine View Beverage in Washington state and General Distributors Inc. in Oregon in 2018.
Columbia Distributing distributes over 250 alcoholic and 60 nonalcoholic beverage brands to more than 20,000 in-store and off-premises customers in Oregon, Washington and California.
The company’s alcoholic products include Sazerac’s Fireball whiskey and Treasury Wine Estates’ 19 Crimes wines, as well as beers and ciders from producers such as Molson Coors, New Belgium and Boston Beer Co.
The group also has a non-alcoholic beverage distribution portfolio, which includes soft drinks such as Keurig Dr Pepper’s Canada Dry Ginger Ales and King Juice Co.’s Calypso sodas.
Founded in 1997, Meritage invests in public and private equity, credit and real estate. The firm has offices in San Francisco, California; Greenwich, Connecticut; and New York City, New York; and manages approximately $12 billion in assets as of January 2024.
The group bought Columbia Distributing in 2012 for an undisclosed sum, according to Reuters.
