Todhunter-Mitchell & Co., Ltd. v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc.

375 F. Supp. 610, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12084
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 27, 1974
DocketCiv. A. 70-676
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 375 F. Supp. 610 (Todhunter-Mitchell & Co., Ltd. v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Todhunter-Mitchell & Co., Ltd. v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 375 F. Supp. 610, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12084 (E.D. Pa. 1974).

Opinion

OPINION

BECHTLE, District Judge. .

Introduction

This is a private antitrust action brought under Sections 4 and 16 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. §§15 and 15/26" style="color:var(--green);border-bottom:1px solid var(--green-border)">26, in which continuing violations of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1 and 1px solid var(--green-border)">2, are alleged. Plaintiff seeks injunctive relief and treble damages.

Plaintiff, Todhunter-Mitehell & Co., Ltd. (“Todhunter-Mitehell”), a wholesale distributor of liquor and beer in the Bahama Islands, contends that defendant, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. (“AnheuserBusch”), has unlawfully restrained its wholesale distributors in the Houston and Atlanta regions from reselling Budweiser beer outside of their respective designated territories. Specifically, Tod-hunter-Mitchell asserts that the defendant combined and conspired with its Miami and New Orleans distributors to enhance and preserve the economic position of Bahama Blenders, Ltd. (“Bahama Blenders”), the AnheuserBusch distributor in the Bahamas, by restraining those other distributors from selling and exporting Budweiser beer to *613 the plaintiff, a competitor of Bahama Blenders. The plaintiff has been unsuccessful in repeated attempts to purchase Budweiser beer from wholesalers located in Miami and New Orleans for import into the Bahamas for retail sale there. Anheuser-Busch asserts that its refusal to deal with the plaintiff (such refusal manifested through the failure or refusal of the Anheuser-Busch distributors in Miami and New Orleans to sell wholesale quantities of Budweiser beer to Todhunter-Mitchell) represents action taken unilaterally by defendant and motivated by legitimate marketing considerations relating to quality control and potential over-supply of the product and not for any anti-competitive motive pursuant to any unlawful agreement or understanding with the distributors involved herein. The issue presented for this Court’s determination is whether the restrictions imposed on the distributors by Anheuser-Busch constituted an unreasonable restraint of trade in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. This Opinion contains the findings of fact and conclusions of law which constitute the grounds for this Court’s decision with respect to the present proceedings.

Findings of Fact

1. Plaintiff, Todhunter-Mitehell, is a Bahamian corporation with its principal place of business in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. It is engaged in the production, bottling, and sale of gin, vodka, and various cordials; the blending, bottling, and sale of rum, bourbon, and whiskeys; and the sale of beer. Tod-hunter-Mitehell imports beer into the Bahamas from the United States and Europe and resells such beer solely on Grand Bahama Island. A. Kenneth Pin-court, Jr., is the president of Todhunter-Mitchell. Until his death in 1971, Arthur K. Pincourt, Sr., was the secretary-treasurer of Todhunter-Mitehell. At all times relevant to this litigation, plaintiff had a subsidiary, Dave Streiffer Company (“Streiffer”), a ship’s chandler in New Orleans, Louisiana. Joseph M. Lichtenstein, Jr., is the president of Streiffer.

2. Defendant, Anheuser-Busch, is a Missouri corporation with its principal place of business in St. Louis. It is the country’s biggest brewer of beer, with 1971 sales of over 24 million barrels (produced in 8 breweries located at St. Louis, Missouri; Houston, Texas; Los Angeles, California; Newark, New Jersey; Columbus, Ohio; Jacksonville, Florida; Tampa, Florida, and Merrimack, New Hampshire) and distributed principally through about 950 wholesalers. Its beer division had sales of $832,183,000 in 1971, representing approximately 19% of the brewing industry sales volume. Anheuser-Busch’s brands are Michelob, Budweiser, and Busch-Bavarian. The Anheuser-Busch distribution points principally involved in this litigation are:

(a) National Brands, Inc. (“National Brands”) — This is a Florida corporation with its principal place of business in Miami. It is the duly-appointed Anheuser-Busch wholesaler in the Miami area and elsewhere in southern Florida. Jerome Blank is the president, and Marvin S. Florman is its general manager. National Brands has continued to be the Anheuser-Busch wholesale distributor for the southern Florida area until the present time.

(a) A&B Distributors, Inc. (“A& B”) — A&B was a Louisiana corporation with its principal place of business in New Orleans. Until May, 1969, this operation, then independently owned, was the Anheuser-Busch wholesaler in the New Orleans area. In May, 1969, Anheuser-Busch acquired certain of the assets of the A&B and, since that time, the New Orleans wholesale operation has continued as a branch of AnheuserBusch. Alan T. Sparkman was the branch manager of A&B and is now manager of this Anheuser-Busch New Orleans branch.

(c) Bahama Blenders, Ltd. (“Bahama Blenders”) — This is a Bahamian corporation with its principal place of busi *614 ness in Nassau. It is the duly-appointed Anheuser-Busch wholesaler in the Bahamas. At all times relevant to this litigation, Jaffrey Stewart has managed and controlled this distributorship. Bahama Blenders and Todhunter-Mitchell are active competitors in the extensive and lucrative market for alcoholic beverages on Grand Bahama Island.

3. Anheuser-Busch has a field organization for marketing its beer which is divided into geographical and authority-level areas of responsibility. The country is divided into divisions, each of which, in turn, is divided into districts. The Anheuser-Busch personnel primarily concerned in 1969 with the matters in this action were as follows:

(a) Sales to National Brands and to Bahama Blenders were the immediate responsibility of the Miami district, headed by District Manager Robert M. Martin. Martin reported to Division Manager James R. Nesbitt in Tampa, who in turn reported to Southeastern Regional Manager Robert F. Stockhausen in Atlanta.

(b) Sparkman, as manager of the Anheuser-Busch New Orleans branch, reported to the Division Manager in Little Rock, Arkansas, who in turn reported to the Regional Manager in Houston, Texas. Joe A. Loyd was Assistant to the Regional Manager in Houston.

(c) The Regional Managers for Atlanta and Houston, and other Regional Managers, reported to Charles S. Aulbert, vice-president (Operations), who was in headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri.

4. Beginning in late 1968, Todhunter-Mitchell went into the business of importing American and European beers into the Bahamas. It made arrangements to buy Pabst, Schaeffer, and Car-ling beer from a Florida wholesaler beginning in January of 1969. Although Todhunter-Mitchell did purchase and import a variety of American beers, it was unable to buy Budweiser.

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375 F. Supp. 610, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12084, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/todhunter-mitchell-co-ltd-v-anheuser-busch-inc-paed-1974.