Conn. Distributor Sues A-B over Plot to Force Sale of Firm

Dichello Distributors sued Anheuser-Busch, claiming A-B “engaged in an ongoing conspiracy” with Sal DiBetta, CEO of the wholesaler between 2013 and 2016, as well as “other unnamed parties,” to “undermine” Dichello and force President John Hall’s family to sell the business to A-B, according to a complaint filed on June 17 in the Connecticut Superior Court.  The dispute was first reported by Brewbound.

Dichello, which distributes A-B products in Fairfield, New Haven and Middlesex counties, alleges that the conspiracy led the company to incur “significant financial losses.” The lawsuit alleges A-B “engaged in an ongoing conspiracy with its former employee, Sal Dibetta, while he was employed by Dichello to force the wholesaler’s owners to sell.

The conspiracy, the complaint alleges, resulted in Dichello incurring “significant financial losses including but not limited to lost productivity, lost business opportunities, legal fees, diminution of the value of the business and other significant expenses.”

A-B sought to force Dichello to sell to A-B’s approved manager “regardless of whether the manager can afford to buy said interest at fair market value or not.”

A-B didn’t immediately respond to our request for comment.

 

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