January 19, 2012, Bellevue, WA - Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. (Southern)—the nation’s leading wine and spirits distributor with active operations in 35 state markets—and its Odom-Southern Holding, LLC joint venture partner, The Odom Corporation (Odom), announce their agreement for Southern to acquire the balance of Odom’s share in their JV  for the wine and spirits business.

Commenting on the pending transaction, Wayne Chaplin, Southern’s President & Chief Operating Officer, said, “In the wake of the passage of I-1183 privatizing spirits distribution and retailing in the State of Washington, we and our partners at Odom believe the timing is appropriate to transition the ownership and governance model of our wine and spirits JV to a sole, Southern ownership model in the Pacific Northwest.  The Odom Corporation and Southern have had over three years  a productive and successful partnership together in the Pacific Northwest, and we at Southern have the highest appreciation and respect for John Odom and his team.  They are consummate professionals, and we are honored to have had the opportunity to work alongside such high-quality friends and colleagues, and look forward to a new chapter in our relationship.”

Southern’s Pacific Northwest headquarters will be located in Kirkland, Washington, with Odom remaining in its existing Bellevue, Washington headquarters where it will focus on its beer, soft drink and non-alcoholic beverage business in the Northwest and Alaska.  Southern’s primary distribution center in the State of Washington will be its state-of-the-art  350,000-square-foot facility in Puyallup, Washington which was acquired in July of last year and is presently in the final stages of readiness for a go live date of March 1.

Odom Chairman & Chief Executive Officer John Odom affirmed, “We appreciate the opportunity we had to work with Southern over the past few years, materially growing our joint enterprise.  I am grateful for the transparency, trust, professionalism and friendship of Southern’s leadership team and organization.  We wish them well with their new spirits journey in Washington—and great success across the other Pacific Northwest markets of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Wyoming and Utah.  Odom looks forward to continuing to partner with Southern in Alaska as well as in the back of the house and on operations in the Pacific Northwest.”

“We see many opportunities coming out of this move for our suppliers, customers and employees alike,” remarked Chaplin.  “With John Klein, our Executive Vice President & General Manager, leading our sales and marketing teams, combined with our facilities and  back-of-the-house processes and systems in the Pacific Northwest, the opportunity for growth for our employees and suppliers will be huge.  We also believe that our supplier and customers  will benefit from the same high level of brand stewardship and customer service that we provide in our other Southern Wine & Spirits’ markets of operation.”

The expected closing date of the transaction is on or about February 29, 2012.