Bryant Distributing enters into agreement to sell assets to Heidelberg Distributing.

In beer wholesaler news, Bryant has been sold to Heidelberg. Both are family-owned companies, and I favor such things. All the best to the Carpenters during the transition. The following has been edited only to remove phone numbers.

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March 13, 2012

To Our Valued Supplier Partners:

Bryant Distributing is pleased to announce today that we have entered into an agreement to sell our assets to Heidelberg Distributing Company of Ohio and Kentucky.

A family-owned business founded in 1934, Bryant currently has third and fourth-generation family members actively involved in the day-to-day operations of our distributorship. This depth of experience in the Kentucky market will continue in our new management and sales roles with Heidelberg.

We are proud of Bryant’s Kentucky heritage and the fact we represent the finest wines, spirits, beers and non-alcohol beverages from around the world. Our footprint has grown over the last seven decades to include strong retail customer relationships across the entire State of Kentucky.

These relationships and solid representation of your brands will continue and expand under Heidelberg’s ownership. Like Bryant, Heidelberg is family-owned and operated and will celebrate its 75th anniversary next year. Heidelberg is one of the largest privately-held family distributors in the country, with facilities in seven Ohio markets as well as Covington, Kentucky. Its resources include senior level support teams for sales, inventory management, delivery, routing, pricing, IT, point-of-sale production, and administration.

This business progression will utilize the best of both Bryant and Heidelberg to sell, promote and service your brands. There will be no interruption of purchasing or retailer customer service during the transition.

This e-mail serves as our official notification of the pending ownership change.

We will be contacting you personally during the coming days and weeks to discuss this in further detail ...

We are very excited to join the Heidelberg Family of Companies and feel that this change will benefit our great suppliers and customers and the products we represent in the marketplace. Thank you for your continued support of the Kentucky alcohol beverage industry!

Sincerely,

The Carpenters
John Jr, Jeff, Jim, Jeff II, Jimmy, and Clay