G&M Distributors has announced their acquisition of Dixon- based LRB Distributors. This took place this Thursday, and its goal is to expand its reach north of Galesburg.G&M President Adam Vitale believes this acquisition provides “a solid platform for growth” for the company, gaining much more volume and manpower.
“It gives us a solid platform for growth and positions us for future growth,” Vitale said.
For those who are not familiar with LRB, they are an Anheuser-Busch InBev wholesaler. Vitale estimated the purchase will more than double G&M’s Anheuser-Busch business. Along with Anheuser-Busch, LRB is a wholesaler for several companies such Bell’s Brewery, and several other local and craft brewers. Vitale hopes this acquisition would boost the Galesburg company to the fourth or fifth largest wholesaler in the state.
The process to acquire LRB took about six months, which is a very fast timeline for the beer industry. Though G&M is acquiring the Dixon location, it plans to remain with the warehouse open and operational to help strengthen the wholesaler’s business in the Dixon area.Dave Cain, general manager of LRB, thanked his employees for over 59 years of business and thinks it’s a move in the right direction.
“This is a positive change for our team and Dixon,” Cain said in a news release. “The jobs will remain in Dixon and I am confident that G&M will be involved in the local community.”
Within the last three years, this is the second acquisition G&M has accomplished in the last three years, including acquiring Boswell Distributing Co. out of Kewanee.
Vitale estimates this new acquisition is 20 times larger – as the Kewanee distributor had just six to eight employees – and will bring the total staff size to 130 full-time employees.The Dixon operation is a little more than half the size of Galesburg’s location with about 50,000 square feet of space.
“We’re proud to call Galesburg home and this says we’re here to stay,” Vitale said.
Source: The Register-Mail