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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>76675</law_id><section_number>4.1-504</section_number><catch_line>Sale of brewery</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>4.1-500</reference><reference>4.1-503</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="4.1">Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Control</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="I">Alcoholic Beverage Control Act</unit><unit label="chapter" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="5">Beer Franchise Act</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> Except for discontinuance of a <span class="dictionary">brand</span> or for good cause as provided in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Cancellation" href="/4.1-505/">4.1-505</a>, the purchaser of a brewery shall become obligated to all of the terms and conditions of the selling brewery&#x2019;s <span class="dictionary">agreements</span> with <span class="dictionary">distributors</span> in effect on the date of purchase. The purchaser of a <span class="dictionary">brand</span> from a brewery shall become obligated to all of the terms and conditions of the selling brewery&#x2019;s <span class="dictionary">agreement</span> with <span class="dictionary">distributors</span> concerning that <span class="dictionary">brand</span>. Whenever such a purchase of a <span class="dictionary">brand</span> results in the creation of a dual distributorship, the provisions of subdivisions 1 and 2 of subsection B will determine the distribution rights to such <span class="dictionary">brand</span> or any extension thereof. For the limited purpose of making such determination, the brewery selling such <span class="dictionary">brand</span> shall be a <span class="dictionary">nonsurviving brewery</span> and the purchaser shall be a <span class="dictionary">surviving brewery</span>. <a id="paragraph-275250" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/4.1-504/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> For purposes of this section, when a purchase of a brewery by or on behalf of another brewery causes the selling brewery to cease to exist as an independent legal entity, the selling brewery shall be regarded as a <span class="dictionary">nonsurviving brewery</span> and the brewery on whose behalf the purchase was made shall be regarded as a <span class="dictionary">surviving brewery</span>. The following rules shall apply in <span class="dictionary">order</span> to determine (i) the distribution rights to any <span class="dictionary">brands</span> which are first marketed in the Commonwealth by the <span class="dictionary">surviving brewery</span> on or after July 1, 1985, with respect to a dual distributorship created prior to July 1, 1985, and (ii) the distribution rights to any <span class="dictionary">brands</span>, regardless of when they were first marketed in the Commonwealth, with respect to a dual distributorship created on or after July 1, 1985: <a id="paragraph-275251" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/4.1-504/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B1" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> If the <span class="dictionary">surviving brewery</span> distributes in the Commonwealth any <span class="dictionary">brand</span> or <span class="dictionary">brands</span> of the <span class="dictionary">nonsurviving brewery</span> which that brewery marketed in the Commonwealth at any time during the one-year period ending on the day the purchase <span class="dictionary">agreement</span> was made, these <span class="dictionary">brands</span> shall be distributed through those <span class="dictionary">beer</span> wholesalers who were <span class="dictionary">distributors</span> in the Commonwealth for the <span class="dictionary">nonsurviving brewery</span>. Any <span class="dictionary">brands</span> which the <span class="dictionary">surviving brewery</span> had marketed in the Commonwealth prior to the purchase shall be distributed through those <span class="dictionary">beer</span> wholesalers who were wholesalers of the <span class="dictionary">surviving brewery</span> prior to the purchase. <a id="paragraph-275252" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/4.1-504/#B1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B2" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> If the <span class="dictionary">surviving brewery</span> decides to market in the Commonwealth a new brand which is clearly an <span class="dictionary">extension of a brand</span> already assigned to <span class="dictionary">beer</span> wholesalers in the Commonwealth, the new brand shall be distributed through those wholesalers who distribute the brand of which the new brand is an extension. <a id="paragraph-275253" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/4.1-504/#B2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B3" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">3.</span> If the <span class="dictionary">surviving brewery</span> decides to introduce in the Commonwealth a new brand which was not marketed in the Commonwealth at any time during the one-year period ending on the date the purchase <span class="dictionary">agreement</span> was made and which is not a <span class="dictionary">brand extension</span>, the <span class="dictionary">surviving brewery</span> shall market the new brand either through a <span class="dictionary">distributor</span> of the <span class="dictionary">nonsurviving brewery</span> or through a <span class="dictionary">distributor</span> who was a <span class="dictionary">distributor</span> of the <span class="dictionary">surviving brewery</span> prior to the purchase, as the brewery may see fit in any <span class="dictionary">territory</span>. <a id="paragraph-275254" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/4.1-504/#B3"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C"><p><span class="prefix-number">C.</span> Subsection B shall not apply to determine distributorship rights to any <span class="dictionary">brands</span> or <span class="dictionary">brand extensions</span> which were marketed in the Commonwealth prior to July 1, 1985, with respect to any dual distributorship created prior to July 1, 1985. <a id="paragraph-275255" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/4.1-504/#C"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>1985, c. 549, &#xA7; 4-118.6:1; 1993, c. 866.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
