{"id":7399,"date":"2012-08-17T12:53:31","date_gmt":"2012-08-17T17:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/?p=7399"},"modified":"2018-02-06T14:22:40","modified_gmt":"2018-02-06T20:22:40","slug":"q-whos-really-calling-the-shots-at-il-distributor-city-beverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/q-whos-really-calling-the-shots-at-il-distributor-city-beverage\/","title":{"rendered":"Q: Who’s Really Calling The Shots At IL Distributor City Beverage?"},"content":{"rendered":"
A: Anheuser-Busch.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n Up until today we knew that Wholesaler Equity Development Corporation (WEDCO), a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch, held a minority stake in City Beverage but what we didn’t know is that they were essentially running the show.<\/p>\n “The facts are that City Beverage is commonly owned and managed by Anheuser-Busch LLC, and Illinois Non-Resident Dealer, through its affiliate WEDCO.”<\/p>\n – Richard Haymaker, Chief Legal Counsel, Illinois Liquor Control Commission, Motion To Amend Complaint<\/em>, July 18, 2012<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Documents, released this morning by the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, show that while WEDCO had minority ownership it also had\u00a0majority<\/em> management.<\/p>\n In total nine documents were made public, including a few we already had. Most are supporting materials submitted by both Anheuser-Busch InBev and the legal counsel for the Commission in defense, and support, of a citation issued by the ILCC to force WEDCO to give up its 30-percent ownership interest in City Beverage.<\/p>\n The ILCC contends that it is against Illinois law for WEDCO to hold even a minority interest in an Illinois distributor. The Commission cites a bill signed in to law last year that defines a “Craft Brewer” in Illinois as evidence. But AB InBev says the Commission is misinterpreting the law and that distributor ownership was not the intent of the legislation.<\/p>\n The most damning of the documents that was released today is ILCC Chief Legal Counsel Richard Haymaker’s motion for summary judgement. In it he unveils WEDCO was elbow deep in the day-to-day activities of City Beverage (sub-heading c).<\/p>\n