March 19, 2019 07:00 AM EDT
RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Performance Food Group Company (“PFG”) (NYSE: PFGC) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Eby-Brown Company LLC (“Eby-Brown”), a leading U.S. distributor of pre-packaged candy, snacks, specialty beverages and tobacco products in the convenience industry.
“We are excited about Eby-Brown joining the PFG family of companies and adding their customer-centric approach to ours,” said PFG Chairman, President & CEO George Holm. “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.”
This acquisition will allow PFG’s Vistar segment to strategically expand in the fast-growing convenience store 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. Vistar and Eby-Brown combined will service over 75,000 locations and Vistar would be No. 1 in locations served and No. 2 in overall non-tobacco convenience volume.
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, and operates eight distribution facilities in Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that serve 20 states. Eby-Brown had fiscal 2018 revenues of $5.3 billion, which included $1.0 billion of tobacco excise taxes. The transaction is expected to be neutral to slightly accretive to PFG’s Adjusted Earnings Per Share (“EPS”) in fiscal 2020.
“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. Co-President Dick Wake added, “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.”
Subject to regulatory approval, the companies expect the transaction to close in the second quarter of calendar 2019.
Fiscal 2019 Outlook
For fiscal 2019, PFG reaffirms its Adjusted EBITDA growth to be in a range of 7% to 10% over its fiscal 2018 Adjusted EBITDA of $426.7 million1. The Company continues to expect that the 7% to 10% Adjusted EBITDA growth for fiscal 2019 will reflect second half Adjusted EBITDA growth to be in the high single to low double-digit range.
PFG also reaffirms fiscal 2019 Adjusted Diluted EPS to grow in a range of 10% to 16% over its fiscal 2018 Adjusted Diluted EPS of $1.541.
This transaction is not included in the fiscal 2019 outlook.
PFG’s Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Diluted EPS outlook exclude the impact of certain income and expense items that management believes are not part of underlying operations. These items may include, but are not limited to, loss on early extinguishment of debt, restructuring charges, certain tax items, and charges associated with non-recurring professional and legal fees associated with acquisitions. PFG’s management cannot estimate on a forward-looking basis the impact of these income and expense items on its reported Net income and its reported Diluted EPS, which could be significant, are difficult to predict and may be highly variable. As a result, PFG does not provide a reconciliation to the closest corresponding GAAP financial measure for its Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Diluted EPS outlook. Please see the “Forward-Looking Statements” section of this release for a discussion of certain risks to PFG’s outlook.
About Performance Food Group Company
Built on the many proud histories of our family of companies, Performance Food Group is a customer-centric foodservice distribution leader headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Grounded by roots that date back to a grocery peddler in 1885, PFG today has a nationwide network of approximately 75 distribution centers, 15,000-plus talented associates and more than 5,000 valued suppliers across the country. With the goal of helping our customers thrive, we market and deliver quality food and related products to over 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. Building strong relationships is core to PFG’s success – from connecting associates with great career opportunities to connecting valued suppliers and quality products with PFG’s broad and diverse customer base. To learn more about PFG and our divisions, Performance Foodservice, PFG Customized and Vistar, visit pfgc.com.
About Eby-Brown Company LLC
Eby-Brown Company LLC, with more than $5.3 billion in revenue, is the third largest wholesale consumer products distributor in the convenience industry, driving efficiencies and profitability for more than 130 years through its industry leading programs, technology and variety of product and foodservice solutions. Eby-Brown operates eight distribution centers throughout the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast. To learn more about Eby-Brown, visit eby-brown.com.
