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Blackstone and Wellspring complete USD1.4bn acquisition of Performance Food Group

The Blackstone Group and Wellspring Capital Management have completed the USD1.4bn acquisition of Richmond, Virginia-based Performance Food Group through its merger with a subsidiary of Vi

The Blackstone Group and Wellspring Capital Management have completed the USD1.4bn acquisition of Richmond, Virginia-based Performance Food Group through its merger with a subsidiary of Vistar, a specialty foodservice distributor controlled by Blackstone and Wellspring funds.

The combined company, which will keep the Performance Food Group name, is expected to have revenues of nearly USD10bn and more than 10,000 employees. Performance Food Group shareholders will receive USD34.50 in cash for each outstanding share of common stock held on May 23.

Vistar president and chief executive George Holm, who becomes chief executive of Performance Food Group, has been an executive in the foodservice distribution industry for 28 years, having previously worked for Alliant Foodservice, U.S. Foodservice and Sysco.

‘With our combined business strengths, dedicated associates, loyal customers and top-quality suppliers, I am excited about the opportunities Performance Food Group has for continued growth and success within the industry,’ Holm says.
 
Blackstone senior managing director Prakash Melwani says: ‘We are very pleased to be able to combine two leading companies in the foodservice distribution industry. The companies are highly complementary in terms of distribution networks, customer focus and product offerings, and are ideally positioned for continued strong growth going forward. Blackstone’s significant investment reflects our high degree of confidence in management and the strategic merits of this combination.’

Adds Wellspring partner William F. Dawson jr: ‘The combined company represents a dynamic, growing foodservice platform with substantial breadth and diversity across a broad range of customers, products and channels. We have a best-in-class management team which is ready to capitalise on the many opportunities created by this merger.’

Performance Food Group is the third largest US foodservice distributor, marketing and distributing more than 68,000 food and food-related products to more than 41,000 restaurants, hotels, cafeterias, schools, health care facilities and other institutions throughout the US and in 40 other countries.

Vistar, based in Centennial, Colorado, operates Vistar Specialty Markets, a distributor to the vending, office coffee services, theatre and fund-raising markets, as well as Roma Foodservice, a distributor of Italian foods and products to independent pizzerias. Vistar serves more than 33,000 US customers through 36 distribution centres.

The Blackstone Group, one of the world’s largest independent alternative asset managers, runs corporate private equity funds, real estate opportunity funds, hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, debt funds, collateralised loan obligation vehicles and closed-end mutual funds, as well as offering financial advisory services including mergers and acquisitions advisory, restructuring and reorganisation advisory and fund placement services.

Wellspring Capital Management is a New York-based private equity firm that manages more than USD2bn in equity capital.

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