The cash deal involves the acquisition of Drescher?s headquarters and distribution center in Liverpool, N.Y., and 100 percent of the outstanding capital stock of its Dex Transportation subsidiary, which is also based there. The transaction does not include Drescher?s other distribution centers in Brownsville, Tenn., and Las Vegas, Nev., but does include inventories and transportation equipment located at these distribution centers.
?This acquisition allows Dot Foods to build on our reputation for quality service and to take advantage of significant growth opportunities in the redistribution industry,? said Pat Tracy, Chief Executive Officer of Dot Foods, Inc. ?With the addition of the Liverpool distribution center in New York, Dot Foods will be able to provide additional capacity, an expanded product offering, and better access to customers in the Northeast. U.S. Foodservice wanted to concentrate its efforts and investment on its core foodservice distribution business rather than on redistribution. This transaction, therefore, will benefit USFS?s customers as well as those of Dot.?
The Drescher Corporation, which had sales of more than $400 million in 2001, is a redistributor to the foodservice industry, providing foodservice, retail, and convenience store wholesalers with ambient, refrigerated, and frozen food products. Drescher operates nationally, but most of its approximately 1200 customers are in the eastern United States. Drescher was a family-owned company until it was sold to Alliant Foodservice in April 2000. USFS, in turn, acquired Drescher when it purchased Alliant Foodservice in November 2001.
Dot executives anticipate closing the transaction with USFS within 30 days.
?This acquisition will provide Dot Foods with economies of scale - in both product volume and customer numbers - that will deliver greater value to our supplier partners and more product choices to our current and new customers,? said Tracy.
Dot Foods serves more than 2,200 food distributors and manufacturers in the foodservice, retail, ingredient, convenience store, and vending supply chains. Dot offers a selection of more than 30,000 products, represented by 350 manufacturers. Customers are served through weekly deliveries on multi-temperature tractor trailer units operating out of distribution centers in Mt. Sterling, Ill.; Vidalia, Ga., Modesto, Calif.; and Williamsport, Md. The company also provides telesales, telemarketing, and database management services to the food manufacturing community through its Principal Resource subsidiary based in Dallas, TX. Dot Foods, a family-owned company headquartered in Mt. Sterling, Ill., had sales of $1.25 billion in 2001. For more information, visit the company?s Web site at www.dotfoods.com.
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