RNDC-Young’s Deal Approved By The FTC
July 18, 2019The Federal Trade Commission has granted approval for Republic National Distributing Co. (RNDC) and Young’s Market Co. to move forward with their planned joint venture, originally announced last month.
Under the deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, the two sides will form a joint venture to operate in all markets where Young’s is now present. The RNDC-Young’s combination will create an $11 billion wholesale giant with a 32-market footprint and a 19% market share, second only to Southern Glazer’s 32% share. RNDC will lead operations in all 32 markets and become managing partner of the joint venture for the Young’s states, which will continue to be called Young’s Market Company.
RNDC and Young’s expected a smooth regulatory approval process, given that the two companies currently overlap in only one state, Arizona. Indeed, at the time of the deal, Young’s Market CEO Chris Underwood told SND, “We don’t see any hurdles. Since we’re already partners in Arizona, and we don’t have any other states that overlap, we would view this as pro-competitive.”
Still, gaining the FTC’s approval is in important step for the two partners, given that RNDC’s previous deal to combine with Breakthru Beverage was waylaid by the agency and eventually abandoned due to its resistance.—Daniel Marsteller
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