Windy City distributes across eight Northern Illinois counties for more than 40 craft breweries, such as Tyranena, Lagunitas and Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales. Brothers Jim and Jason Ebel founded Windy City in 1999. The Ebels also are the brewers behind Warrenville-based Two Brothers beer.
The deal, which is expected to close by the end of the year, represents the further mainstreaming and growing popularity of craft breweries, 442 of which opened in 2012 alone, according to industry group the Beer Institute. That growth is threatening giants such as Anheuser-Busch InBev, the maker of Budweiser, and MillerCoors.
Rosemont-based Chicago Beverage Systems and Windy City, based in Warrenville, will not integrate their operations, according to a press release. Windy City's president Bob Collins and his management team will join Reyes.
"Windy City Distributing will be a new entity in our network focused solely on the craft beer market," Ray Guerin, chief operating officer of Reyes Beverage Group, said in the press release. "I look forward to working with Windy City to learn more about servicing the craft beer industry while providing Reyes Beverage Group's expertise to help Windy City expand ..."
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Both companies are privately held.
