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RNDC CEO details "additional strategic transactions" to sell off empire

Read Marc Sachs' internal memo signaling a national firesale at the troubled wholesaler

Author

Dave Infante
April 27, 2026

Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated periodically with new information. If you have tips about what’s going on at RNDC, please get in touch by emailing me ([email protected]) or texting me on Signal (dinfontay.11). Anonymity available.—Dave.

Republic National Distributing Company’s decline has worsened into something that sounds more like a death rattle. The troubled wholesaler announced Monday that it had obtained letters of intent from Columbia Distributing to buy its business in the Pacific Northwest and from Martignetti Companies to scoop up its control-state footprint. Separate discussions are underway to reexamine RNDC’s joint ventures and sell off its operations in the Great Plains.

Shanken News Daily ran with the story Monday morning, having evidently agreed to an embargo in exchange for the details. I followed with some analysis for VinePair you can read here (see “VP Pro Take” about halfway down.) Here’s a bit:

While these deals aren’t yet done, their existence makes it imperative to consider how they might reconfigure the rapidly changing middle tier. Watch for Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits to make a play for White Mountain Beverage, the Anheuser-Busch InBev distributorship RNDC bought in 2022 as part of its purchase of K&L. Watch for the revelation of this mystery buyer angling for RNDC’s markets in the heartland. If it’s not Breakthru Beverage Group on the other end of those “discussions,” you’d have to figure the Chicago wholesaler has another move in mind, because SGWS and RBG have already made theirs. There are generational gains on the board, especially given the Trump administration’s corrupt approach to antitrust regulation. We’re watching the entire business take the shape it will hold for years to come.

In the initial flurry of coverage, no outlet has yet published the internal memo RNDC chief executive Marc Sachs sent to employees today detailing the moves. Fingers obtained that message from a current RNDC employee who has been granted anonymity to speak candidly about the situation within the company without fear of retaliation.

“Death by 1000 cuts,” they said by text Monday. “Nobody is having a good time.”

Upgrade to read the Monday memo RNDC’s CEO sent about this deal.

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