BEER BUST: A FAMILY-OWNED BEER DISTRIBUTOR IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA TAPS OUT IN A RECORD SALE.

• Author: Mildenberg, David
• Position: NCTREND: Beer industry

Goldsboro's Jeffreys family concluded it was closing time for their beer distributorship, prompting a sale that an industry expert says sets a national record for an Anheuser-Busch Cos. wholesaler.

In March, three N.C. companies bought exclusive area rights from R.A. Jeffreys Distributing Co., which started distributing A-B beers in 1923 and sold Budweiser and other suds to retailers throughout most of eastern North Carolina, including Greenville, Raleigh and Wilmington. Terms weren't disclosed, but trade publication Beer Marketer's Insights estimated the transactions totaled $350 million to $400 million, Publisher and Editor Benj Steinman says.

Jeffreys was the fifth-largest A-B wholesaler in the U.S., with operations in 36 N.C. counties, according to the company's website. More than 600 people worked for the family-owned company led by President Robert Jeffreys, an heir of founder Zadloc Marquis Lafayette Jeffreys. Other owners included his sisters Leigh Jeffreys Fanning, a trustee at East Carolina University, and Ellen Jeffreys Bland, whose husband, Will, is an N.C. Superior Court judge in Goldsboro.

As part of the deal, Jeffreys' territory was carved up by three closely held companies: Charlotte-based Adams Beverages of North Carolina LLC, Greensboro-based R.H. Barringer Distributing Co. and Rocky Mount-based Carolina Eagle Distributing Inc.

Barringer is picking up Wake County and some adjoining areas. Adams is gaining rights to much of the southeastern part of the state, including 23 counties ranging from Anson in the west to New Hanover and other coastal areas. Carolina Eagle acquired rights to seven eastern N.C. counties, including Nash, Pitt and Wilson.

Upon the deal's closing, Adams dismissed several dozen salespeople and warehouse workers in Goldsboro, Lumberton, New Bern and other cities, according to four former Jeffreys employees. No severance was provided to the workers, including some who had worked for the Jeffreys' business for nearly three decades, they say. The workers, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid difficulty in landing new jobs, say they were told last year that a pending sale wouldn't affect their job status. Calls to Robert and Leigh Jeffreys and Adams' owner Clay Adams weren't returned.

Adams, which started distributing beer in Dothan, Ala., in 1937, acquired rights to the Charlotte market for Anheuser-Busch in 2012. With the Jeffreys' purchase and a 2016 acquisition of a Shelby wholesaler, Adams now covers...