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February 2016 WINES&VINES 19 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS W ashington, D.C.—A merger in- volving two of the four largest wine and spirits distributors in the United States could make things easier for big wine companies but even tougher for small wineries and those trying to break into the market. The Federal Trade Commission announced Jan. 4 that it had no objections to the merger of Southern Wine & Spirits and Glazer's Inc., after the pair revealed plans to join and create a wholesale network serving 41 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Canada and the Caribbean. According to the Impact Newsletter from M. Shanken Communications, Southern Wine & Spirits posted $11.8 billion in sales last year while Glazer's tallied $3.7 billion. The combined annual sales was $15.5 bil- lion, and the merged company also just signed a deal with Bacardi that will bring in $1 billion more. The new company, Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits LLC, will have 20,000 employees (including 12,000 sales reps) and will sell more than 150 million cases of wine and spirits an- nually, serving more than 350,000 retailers and restaurants. Southern chairman Harvey Chaplin will become the chairman of Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, while Glazer's chairman Ben- nett Glazer will be executive vice chairman of the new entity. Wayne Chaplin, Southern's president and chief executive officer, will be CEO of South- ern Glazer's, while Glazer's CEO Shelly Stein will serve as the president of Southern Glazer's. The combined Glazer's company will have nearly a 30% share of the $53 billion U.S. wine and spirits market in dollar terms. Glazer's and the three other largest distribu- tors, Wirtz Charmer (which also recently merged), Republic and Young's Market (the leader in California) will share more than 60% of the total market. The impact of the move could impact many wine companies, but a number of representa- tives who were asked declined to comment on the merger. In general, larger and estab- lished wine companies could likely benefit from less paperwork and better coordination and logistics. Trinchero Family Estates, owner of Sutter Home, Ménage à Trois and many other big brands, is one that sees the move as positive. "Over the years, the Trinchero family has built and sustained a healthy relationship with both _Publicite_Vineyard-F.indd 1 17-12-15 9:59 AM TOP STORY Distributors Change Winery Landscape Rest of market 16% Southern Glazer's 15% Wirtz Charmer 7% Republic 6% Other top 10 4% Young's Market 3% DISTRIBUTOR MARKET SHARE