Homeless in Arizona

This is one of the reasons marijuana is illegal in Arizona.

Senator John McCain doesn't want marijuana to cut into his wife's lucrative business selling liquor.

Senator John McCain's wife is Cindy Hensley McCain who is one of the owners of the Hensley Beverage Company.

A good number of years back Senator John McCain's wife Cindy Hensley McCain was a doper who I think preferred not marijuana, but opiates. Hypocrites.

Sadly folks from MPP or Marijuana Policy Project seems to want the same kind of monopoly for themselves with their phoney baloney law to legalize marijuana in Arizona.

If you want to legalize marijuana the RIGHT way in Arizona support RAD (Relegalize all Drugs) or AZfmr (Arizonans for Mindful Regulation) and tell MPP to shove it.

Beer distributor Hensley to buy Golden Eagle

Ryan Randazzo, The Republic | azcentral.com 5:20 p.m. MST January 11, 2016

Hensley Beverage Company acquires Golden Eagle Distributors

Hensley Beverage is buying Golden Eagle

The deal will ensure nearly every Budweiser in Arizona is run through the family company Combined, the company will have about 1,260 workers

A landmark purchase by Phoenix-based Hensley Beverage Co. will ensure that nearly every Budweiser consumed in Arizona, from the Grand Canyon to the Mexico border, will move through the family business launched in 1955.

Hensley’s purchase of Tucson’s Golden Eagle Distributors was announced by the companies Monday and is expected to close before April. Terms were not disclosed.

Hensley officials believe the deal will make the combined distributor one of the 10 largest in the nation for any brand, with about 1,260 employees moving approximately 30 million cases of beer annually. Distributors deliver products between alcohol producers and bars and stores that sell the products.

Golden Eagle was established in 1974 by Bill Clements. Hensley was launched in 1955 by James Hensley.

Both companies distribute Anheuser-Busch InBev products, primarily Bud Light. Golden Eagle has facilities in Tucson, Show Low, Casa Grande, Buckeye, Flagstaff and Tempe. Hensley distributes across metro Phoenix. The combined company will cover the entire state with the exceptions of some rural corners of Arizona.

“My father was very, very close with the founders of Golden Eagle,” said Hensley Chairwoman and majority owner Cindy Hensley McCain, the daughter of James Hensley and wife of Sen. John McCain.

“He always considered them good businessmen and women, and patriots to the state of Arizona.”

James Hensley actually had business deals with Clements’ father, Dudley, who ran a distributorship that preceded Golden Eagle. Clements passed away in 1995 and Hensley passed away in 2000. Clements’ son, Chris, is CEO and daughter, Kimberly, is president of Golden Eagle. His widow, Ginny, is chairwoman.

The Clements approached Hensley about a purchase, she said, and her position as co-owner was to make the deal if it was possible.

“Arizona is a family and keeping that business in the family was important to me,” she said. “I didn’t want to see someone from outside Arizona come in and do it.”

Ginny Clements said keeping the business in the state was important to her family, too.

"It’s time to move on and enjoy the fruits of our labor, and we’re doing this by selling to another family-owned Arizona business,” she said in a prepared statement. “Hensley and Co. has an outstanding reputation as a solid Arizona business that puts their employees first, so we have every confidence that they will treat this Tucson-based operation with the same philosophy."

The deal is by far the largest in Hensley’s history, said Andy McCain, chief financial and chief operating officer.

“It is a generational opportunity,” he said. “One of the great attractions of acquiring Golden Eagle is the efficiencies.”

The combined company should see significant cost reductions because the two territories are adjacent and can be served more efficiently with better truck routes and other logistics than they are today, he said.

The Clements family will sell the assets to Hensley and no longer be a part of the business, but Hensley officials have significant work ahead sorting out how the combined company will be structured, Hensley President/CEO Robert Delgado said.

“We’ll meet with all the employees,” he said. “We are very excited about what our company is going to look like going forward. There should be tremendous opportunities for employees.”

Hensley officials estimate that Anheuser-Busch products control more than 50 percent of the market share in the company distribution territory, slightly better than Anheuser-Busch does nationally, based on reports from major accounts and other data. Hensley officials estimate Golden Eagle commands a similar market share for Anheuser-Busch in its territory.

The changing beer landscape has necessitated more efficiency and cost cutting from distributors, Delgado said. Previously the companies dealt with a handful of products. Now, with the proliferation of craft beer and by branching into other products like wine, the company handles 875 beer brands and about 3,200 different products.

“We are very proud of the craft (beer) portfolio we have assembled,” Delgado said. “We focus on quality brands.”

While there is significant overlap in brands offered, Delgado said Hensley offers some craft beer today that Golden Eagle does not and also distributes wine, which Golden Eagle doesn’t distribute.

“This will be a win for all of our suppliers,” he said.

At a glance

Hensley Beverage Co.

Phoenix headquarters.

830 employees.

20.5 million cases of beer sold annually.

Owned by Cindy Hensley McCain, Andrew McCain and Robert Delgado.

8,000 accounts.

Fleet of 250 delivery vehicles.

Golden Eagle Distributors

Tucson headquarters.

430 employees.

8.5 million cases of beer sold annually.

Owned by Clements family.

3,000-4,000 accounts.

80 delivery trucks.

The deal

Clements family sells Golden Eagle to Hensley.

Deal to close by April.

Golden Eagle to rebrand as Hensley.