Paramount Distillers Inc. of Cleveland, which was founded a month after the repeal of Prohibition in 1934, has been sold to a St. Louis-based producer and marketer of distilled alcoholic beverages and liqueurs.

Luxco Inc. has agreed to buy all the shares outstanding of Paramount and a Paramount subsidiary, Meier's Wine Cellars in Cincinnati.

Terms were not disclosed. Luxco said it expects the deal to be completed by the end of September. It plans to continue to operate Paramount's production operations in Cleveland and Cincinnati.

“The acquisition is a strategic move for Luxco which allows us to increase our presence in markets like Ohio and Iowa while also giving us the opportunity to grow our wine portfolio and expand our capabilities into other product lines such as the non-alcohol products as produced by Meier's,” said Donn Lux, chairman and CEO of Luxco, in a statement.

According to the The St. Louis Business Journal, which first reported the story today, Luxco has $220 million in sales and about 180 employees.

Paramount CEO Robert Szabo and president Rob Boas were not immediately available this afternoon to discuss the sale. In a statement, Mr. Szabo said Luxco “has the resources and capabilities to expand our portfolio of great products into many markets across the United States.”

The company's website states that J.F. Moessmer founded Paramount on West 106th Street in Cleveland. By 1946, according to the website, “the company had grown and prospered enough to require more space and was moved to a larger headquarters a few blocks away on Berea Road.”

Paramount's headquarters at 3116 Berea Road “accommodates not only a production area, but laboratories, labelling and bottling assembly lines, larger warehousing facilities and an in-house print shop to supply labels and point of sale,” according to the site.

Paramount produces vodka, gin, blended and bourbon whiskey, and cocktails. Products such as brandy, cognac, tequila and rum are imported and bottled at the Cleveland plant.

Paramount acquired Meier's in 1976, according to the Meier's website. The Cleveland company also has had a full-time sales staff based in Ankeny, Iowa, since 1978. Paramount has been selling spirits in Iowa since 1962.