Ohio Legislature Follows Illinois and Other States in Limiting Branch Expansion

April 19, 2013 Dear Client: On the heels of the Illinois General Assembly passing a brewery branch ban and the subsequent announcement regarding the pending divestiture of ABI's stake in City Beverage, the Ohio legislature just unanimously passed a branch ban bill in both houses. You may recall that A-B has a branch in Canton, OH, but this bill grandfathers that branch in, and limits expansion to a brewer owning other branches. The bill also allows retail license holders to