ACQUISITIONS
Southern Eagle employees and family members participating in a community service
project benefiting the Treasure Coast Food Bank.
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Toys donated by Southern Eagle employees benefit the Boys & Girls
Club and St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Department.
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the distribution rights to dozens of small
craft breweries since the early 2000s. Craft
beer reached its peak in popularity between
2008 and 2009. Many of these small
breweries were outside the traditional
Palm Beach County territory. When it came
time to consider selling the company,
Brown had to divest itself of the out-oftown
and out-of-state craft brewers — all
48 of them.
Sale prices of distributorships are a
closely held secret in the industry, Philip
and Trabulsy both said. But Philip did
indicate he estimates that Brown received
“north of $300 million” for the rights of the
small breweries.
PREMIUM PRICE
Philip is wary of disclosing the price
Southern Eagle paid for Brown but did admit
the company paid a premium for the
Palm Beach company. The assets of Brown
south of Palm Beach County were purchased
separately by the country’s largest
beer distributor, Reyes and Company, for
“several hundred million dollars,” according
to Trabulsy.
Trabulsy and Philip said they would
have loved to have taken over the entire
Brown operation but it would have left
them really financially stretched.
With the purchase of Brown, another
120 people were added to the company’s
payroll, Philip said. Most are delivery drivers
who make the daily commute from
their Palm Beach County homes to the
Fort Pierce warehouse. Southern Eagle has
retained a small salesforce with an office in
West Palm Beach to service accounts there.
Philip made a point of talking individually
with every driver who came with the
acquisition. That was a big contrast with the
more corporate approach taken by Brown
management. Several 10-year employees
admitted they’d only seen their previous
bosses once or twice during their careers.
OPEN DOOR FOR ALL
By contrast, Philip maintains an open
door policy toward all his employees.
That fosters a sense of camaraderie and a
family atmosphere, he believes. Southern
Eagle holds several big company parties,
picnics and even a rodeo every year for
its employees.
Retaining Brown drivers after the merger
was crucial, Philip said. He pays them
$500 a month for daily travel time and has
boosted the wages of his existing and very
loyal group of Fort Pierce drivers. Average
salaries range from $50,000 to $75,000 a
year, not including frequent performance
and retention bonuses.
Philip pointed out the national shortage
Paul Trabulsy, chief financial officer for
Southern Eagle Distributing, helped with
the new acquisition.
of CDL drivers and how other distributors
such as food companies routinely pay
$100,000 a year or more for a 6-day week.
He said Southern Eagle is working toward
a four-day, 10-hour day week for most
drivers, which is a popular move.
“I have a real strong passion for my people,”
Philip said. “They count on me. Life’s
too short to work for an *******. You can
achieve results without being an overbearing,
numbers-driven person, that’s not real.”
Philip, as does his father, believes in supporting
local nonprofits and community
causes. While Peter is geared more toward
environmental causes, Philip concentrates
Gathering of many retired and current Southern Eagle Distributing employees at Little
Jim’s Bait & Tackle to celebrate all of the great times together.
Southern Eagle employees and owners gather to celebrate 30 years of
business on the Treasure Coast.
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