Crescent Crown Distributing continues to make moves in Louisiana.
Crescent Crown — which operates distribution territories in Louisiana and Arizona and sells more than 37 million cases of beverages annually — announced Monday a deal to acquire Jim Carey Distributing Company in Covington, Louisiana.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of December, with the anticipation of integrating Jim Carey’s business into Crescent Crown by the end of January 2021.
The deal will add about 1 million cases of products from Molson Coors, Heineken, Pabst, Clubtails, Shiner and Sundance Beverage to Crescent Crown’s business, consolidating those portfolios in St. Tammany, Washington, Tangipahoa, St. Helena, Livingston, and northern sections of St. James, St. John the Baptist, and St. Charles parishes.
Additionally, Crescent Crown said the transaction would allow it to better use its warehouses in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, “which were designed to handle volume integration opportunities as well as future organic growth throughout the Northshore territory, which has experienced major population growth over the past 15 years.”
Crescent Crown’s list of suppliers includes major craft brands such as Boston Beer, Brooklyn Brewery, Bell’s Brewery, CANarchy, Lagunitas, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Stone, and Abita, among others. The company also distributes non-alcoholic offerings from Keurig Dr. Pepper, Essentia, Aquahydrate, Fiji, Red Bull and others.
The deal marks the second acquisition of 2020 for Crescent Crown. In February, Crescent Crown acquired Streva Distributing Company, consolidating the Molson Coors and Heineken portfolios in Lafayette and Thibodaux.
“The consolidation trend of beer and beverage brands throughout many major U.S. markets has proven to be both beneficial and synergistic towards stronger market effectiveness through horizontal integration of markets over the past 20 years,” Crescent Crown said in a press release.
In Louisiana, Crescent Crown operates warehouses in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Thibodaux. The company services more than 14,000 retailers and employs 1,400 workers. The company will acquire Jim Carey’s warehouse but will transfer operations to its New Orleans and Baton Rogue facilities.
Jim Carey Distributing’s roots date back to the end of Prohibition in 1933, started by the Carey family.
“Chuck [Carey], his father Jim, uncle Barney, Jr. and grandfather Barney, Sr. are ‘icons’ of the Louisiana beer industry and the Carey family has been a respected friend and competitive peer over the past 20 years,” Crescent Crown president Bubba Moffett said in a press release. “The Crescent Crown family will strive to carry on the legacy of excellence that their family and team have established over the past 88 years built on the principles of trust, honesty and fair business practices.”