IN RE: GABRIEL INVESTMENT GROUP (2022)

This Texas liquor law dispute poses a two-part question over the scope of an exemption from a general prohibition on public corporations owning package-store permits: Does Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 22.16(f) “continue[ ] to exempt a public corporation if that corporation sells some or all its shares to a non-exempt corporation, and, if so, whether the exempt corporation can acquire additional package store permits”?¹ We certified to the Supreme Court of Texas,² which swiftly and unanimously answered both parts “yes.”³

That resolves this appeal.

Accordingly, we REVERSE the district court judgment and REMAND for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

FOOTNOTES

1.   Gabriel Inv. Grp., Inc. v. Tex. Alcoholic Beverage Comm'n, No. 22-0062, ––– S.W.3d ––––, ––––, 2022 WL 2183290, at *1 (Tex. June 17, 2022).

2.   In re Gabriel Inv. Grp., Inc., 24 F.4th 503 (5th Cir. 2022).

3.   ––– S.W.3d at ––––, 2022 WL 2183290, at *1. The Court noted, though, that its answer came with some caveats. Its “analysis assum[ed] GIG will remain the same, distinct public corporation that qualified for the exemption in 1995” after it emerges from bankruptcy. See id. at –––– n.9, 2022 WL 2183290 at *17 n.9. It “[did] not comment on any other scenario or on other potential changes to GIG that could interfere with its ongoing legal authority to hold package store permits.” Id. (citation omitted).

Don R. Willett, Circuit Judge: