NEW YORK / Bloomberg
Sysco said that it will pay about $800 million to buy rival European food distributer Brakes Group, a deal which will help the company expand in the region.
The companies valued the deal at $3.1 billion, when $2.3 billion of debt is included. Houston-based Sysco is purchasing Brakes Group from its private equity owner, Bain Capital.
Sysco sells and distributes food products to hospitals, schools and restaurants in the U.S., Canada and Ireland. Brakes Group distributes food to restaurants, bars, caterers and other businesses in Belgium, England, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden.
Sysco Corporation is an American multinational corporation involved in marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, hotels and inns, and other foodservice and hospitality businesses. The company is headquartered in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas. After the deal closed, the combined company will have annual sales of about $55 billion.
Shares of Sysco Corp. fell $2.90, or 6.4 percent, to $42.09 in afternoon trading Monday.
Brakes (also Brake Bros Ltd) is a distribution company supplying food, drink and other products mainly to the catering (or ‘foodservice’) industry in the UK.