Reyes Holdings announced Wednesday plans to acquire Coca-Cola plants in Niles and Alsip, along with four other facilities in the Midwest.
Rosemont-based Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution, a subsidiary of Reyes Holdings, has signed a letter of intent to buy the plants from the Coca-Cola Co. and take over production. The other facilities are in Milwaukee; Detroit; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Eagan, Minn. Terms of the deal, expected to close by the end of 2017, weren’t disclosed.
When asked if the deal would result in layoffs, Meredith Simpson, a Reyes Holdings spokeswoman, said the company doesn’t “expect that there will be any changes to the workforce.”
In January, members of Teamsters Local 727 voted to approve a three-year contract with Coca-Cola, ending contentious negotiations that included a strike that lasted nearly a month. The contract covers 319 production and warehouse workers and transport drivers at the two Illinois plants.
“We expect that the existing deal will be honored,” Simpson said.
In the fall, the union negotiated a contract with Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution for about 500 members at distribution facilities in Chicago and Alsip, said Maggie Jenkins, spokeswoman for Local 727. In general, the union’s had a “very smooth relationship” with Great Lakes, Jenkins said.
“We imagine that’s only going to continue with Great Lakes taking over operations at the plants in Alsip and Niles,” Jenkins said.
In October, Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution announced its expansion in the Midwest. By the end of 2017, the company will have exclusive rights for sales and distribution of Coca-Cola beverages in Michigan, most of Wisconsin, southern Minnesota and portions of northeast Iowa and northern Illinois, Reyes Holdings reported Wednesday. The announcement marks Great Lakes’ first foray into production in the Midwest.
“The agreement allows Reyes Holdings and our family of businesses not only to grow our partnership with Coca-Cola, but also to become a producing bottler for the first time,” said Chris Reyes, founder and co-chairman of Reyes Holdings, which is also based in Rosemont.
The deal is part of a broader strategy by the Coca-Cola Co. to refranchise its North American bottling operations. Coca-Cola also announced Wednesday the expansion of three other bottling companies and the addition of a new one.
Twitter @GregTrotterTrib
