Royal Ahold, the international food provider, today announced that its foodservice distribution company in the United States, U.S. Foodservice, has completed its acquisition of PYA/Monarch. PYA/Monarch is a prominent foodservice operator, particularly in southeastern United States. The transaction involves a cash sum of USD 1.57 billion and includes a multi-year supply agreement between U.S. Foodservice and former owner Sara Lee Corporation.
The acquisition of PYA/Monarch boosts Ahold’s foodservice sales in the U.S. to approximately USD 12 billion with overall projected sales of Ahold USA approaching USD 35 billion in 2001. It also considerably strengthens Ahold’s position in the away-from-home food consumption market. The reunion of the two former sister companies will better position the combined company to provide improving levels of customer service to institutions across America including restaurants, sports stadiums, hospitals and schools.
Remarks by Jim Miller, President & CEO, U.S. Foodservice
‘By welcoming PYA/Monarch into the Ahold family, we do two things,’ commented Jim Miller, President & CEO of U.S. Foodservice. ‘First, we strengthen our position in the rapidly-growing foodservice sector by bringing into the fold a quality player with a particular focus on southeastern USA. Second, PYA/Monarch can begin to realize substantial synergies and economies of scale from working closely together with the U.S.Foodservice team. PYA/Monarch has top quality management and employees, and we are very proud to have them in the Ahold family.’
Ahold in the United States
Over 60% of Ahold’s current worldwide sales are generated in the United States. U.S. Foodservice and PYA/Monarch have foodservice operations across America with combined sales of approximately USD 12 billion. Ahold’s five U.S. retail companies generate sales approaching USD 22 billion and include Stop & Shop in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey and New York; Giant Food in Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware and Washington D.C.; Giant Food Stores in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia; Tops Markets in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania; and BI-LO in the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. Ahold USA also has effective e-commerce operations in which Peapod, the leading U.S. food e-tailer, plays an important role.
U.S. Foodservice
U.S. Foodservice is the second-largest food distributor in the United States. Combined with PYA/Monarch, the Ahold company operates through 55 marketing and distribution centers nationwide. U.S. Foodservice markets and distributes a wide range of national and private label items to over 143,000 foodservice customers, including restaurants, hotels, healthcare facilities, cafeterias and schools. Ahold acquired U.S. Foodservice in April 2000.
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Royal Ahold
Royal Ahold operates over 8,200 supermarkets, hypermarkets and other store formats in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia with annualized sales of over Euro 50 billion. The company has also a significant presence in the foodservice sector and in e-commerce linked to home delivery. Ahold employs almost 400,000 associates and serves the food needs of over 30 million loyal customers in 24 countries every week. Ahold’s website can be found at www.ahold.com.
