The Rise and Dramatic Fall of RNDC

Dear Client: A year ago, Republic National Distributing Co. ran a near-national footprint of close to 40 markets and was the country's No. 2 wine and spirits distributor. Today it is, (by our back-of-envelope count at least), 37 markets lighter, with deals signed, in motion, or telegraphed for nearly everything outside two or three markets. The unwind is happening at a speed almost no one in the trade thought possible, and BBD has learned the financial reality underneath the M&A