Richmond-based Performance Food Group has taken yet another food vendor under its wing.
PFG, which is one of the country’s largest food and food service distributors in the country, announced that it acquired the Ledyard Company in Santa Cruz, Calif. Ledyard employs about 100 people and has been in business since 1929.
“The addition of Ledyard will allow us to increase our presence on the West Coast. This acquisition brings great opportunities for both organizations,” said George Holm, PFG president and CEO, in a statement.
PFG was bought a couple of years ago by private equity firm Blackstone for $1.3 billion.
A news story from the San Jose Mercury News has more information about how the Ledyard deal went down:
[Owner Richard] Fontana said Performance Food Group approached him about selling.
“We talked to them two or three years before the crash,” he said. “We see each other all the time. We belong to the same buying group, our buying co-op that makes us competitive.”
After the economy crashed, they talked about how business was going.
Though 2009 was a struggle, Fontana said, “This year we had a great year. We were tighter on staffing, expenses, everything. “
When Performance took a closer took, “they could see I wasn’t BS-ing them,” he said.
“We’re in the top five performance-wise,” he said, noting the offer was higher than before, seven times the earnings formula instead of six. “At the Blackstone board meeting last Thursday, there was a six-page PowerPoint. Halfway through the first slide, they said, ‘Buy ’em.”
Continue reading here.
Richmond-based Performance Food Group has taken yet another food vendor under its wing.
PFG, which is one of the country’s largest food and food service distributors in the country, announced that it acquired the Ledyard Company in Santa Cruz, Calif. Ledyard employs about 100 people and has been in business since 1929.
“The addition of Ledyard will allow us to increase our presence on the West Coast. This acquisition brings great opportunities for both organizations,” said George Holm, PFG president and CEO, in a statement.
PFG was bought a couple of years ago by private equity firm Blackstone for $1.3 billion.
A news story from the San Jose Mercury News has more information about how the Ledyard deal went down:
[Owner Richard] Fontana said Performance Food Group approached him about selling.
“We talked to them two or three years before the crash,” he said. “We see each other all the time. We belong to the same buying group, our buying co-op that makes us competitive.”
After the economy crashed, they talked about how business was going.
Though 2009 was a struggle, Fontana said, “This year we had a great year. We were tighter on staffing, expenses, everything. “
When Performance took a closer took, “they could see I wasn’t BS-ing them,” he said.
“We’re in the top five performance-wise,” he said, noting the offer was higher than before, seven times the earnings formula instead of six. “At the Blackstone board meeting last Thursday, there was a six-page PowerPoint. Halfway through the first slide, they said, ‘Buy ’em.”
Continue reading here.