Eby-Brown to Be Acquired by Performance Food Group

RICHMOND, Va. — Performance Food Group Co. (PFG) inked a definitive agreement to acquire Eby-Brown Co. LLC.

"We are excited about Eby-Brown joining the PFG family of companies and adding their customer-centric approach to ours," said George Holm, PFG chairman, president and CEO. "Their impressive levels of order fulfillment, on-time delivery and ability to adapt to customer needs have helped build their reputation as a premier provider of convenience industry solutions for independent operators and larger retail chains.

"This acquisition will provide a new, complementary growth opportunity for PFG with incremental revenue synergies in our foodservice platform," he added.

The acquisition will allow PFG's Vistar segment to strategically expand in the convenience channel where there is significant overlap with suppliers and product categories, as well as opportunities to use PFG brands for unique solutions in the prepared/made-to-order foodservice market, according to the company.

Vistar and Eby-Brown, combined, will service more than 75,000 locations and Vistar would be No. 1 in locations served and No. 2 in overall non-tobacco convenience volume.

Subject to regulatory approval, the companies expect the transaction to close in the second quarter.

Eby-Brown is a privately held company founded more than 125 years ago. Headquartered in Naperville, Ill., the company is led today by Dick and Tom Wake. It operates eight distribution facilities in Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that serve 20 states.

"George and his management team understand and share our values and belief in forming lasting relationships with customers and business partners," said Tom Wake, co-president of Eby-Brown.

Eby-Brown had fiscal 2018 revenues of $5.3 billion, which included $1 billion of tobacco excise taxes.

"We believe this acquisition will better position us to serve existing and new customers, and we're excited about the innovative possibilities that we will be able to provide to our customers, as a part of PFG," added Dick Wake, co-president.  

Based in Richmond, PFG has a nationwide network of approximately 75 distribution centers, 15,000-plus associates and more than 5,000 valued suppliers across the country. The company markets and delivers food and related products to more than 150,000 locations, including independent and chain restaurants, schools, business and industry locations, healthcare facilities, vending distributors, office coffee service distributors, big box retailers and theaters.