Vestar Capital Partners has sold Edward Don & Co., a distributor of foodservice equipment and supplies, to Sysco Corporation.
Edward Don & Company (DON) is a distributor of foodservice equipment and supplies. The company stocks more than 12,000 SKUs from 3,000 suppliers and its products include dinnerware, glassware, flatware, linens, buffet and table service, apparel, bar and kitchen supplies, furniture, fuel, cleaning products, paper towels, and tissues.
Customers of DON include all types of foodservice businesses including independent restaurants, national chains, health care, hospitality, country clubs, schools and universities, government institutions and foodservice management. In addition to its distribution business, DON also operates a foodservice equipment division which provides kitchen design, equipment purchasing, and installation.
According to the 2023 Distribution Giants report published by Foodservice Equipment & Supplies magazine, DON had sales in 2022 of $1.3 billion. DON was founded by the Don family in 1921 and was acquired by Vestar in March 2017.
During Vestar’s ownership term the company closed four add-on acquisitions with the buys of Shervan Colonel Equipment, a Nevada-based designer and installer of commercial kitchens (June 2019); Myers Restaurant Supply, a California-based distributor of foodservice equipment and supplies and a provider of restaurant and commercial kitchen design and build services (May 2019); Smith & Greene Company, a Washington-based provider of foodservice equipment and supplies, and a provider of commercial kitchen design and build services (December 2017); and Atlanta Fixture and Sales Company, a Georgia-based foodservice equipment and supplies distributor (November 2017).
DON has just over 1,200 employees and 1.4 million sq. ft. at seven distribution centers – in Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Seattle – with a headquarters near Chicago in Woodridge, Illinois.
Post-closing, DON will operate as a standalone specialty division within Sysco, and DON CEO and President Steve Don will continue to manage the business alongside DON’s leadership team.
“Vestar was a great partner to DON during a period of both unprecedented growth but also unprecedented pandemic-related challenges, for our company,” said Mr. Don. “We appreciate Vestar’s support of our customer-focused, service-oriented, integrated growth strategy over the past years, and look forward to continuing to deliver for all DON stakeholders in our exciting next chapter with Sysco.”
“It’s been a privilege to support Steve Don and DON management to help them achieve their growth objectives,” said Rob Rosner, a founding partner at Vestar. “When we originally invested in the business, we believed we were backing one of the strongest management teams and one of the highest-quality platforms in the foodservice equipment and supplies distribution space. That thesis has proven out many times over the years, and this successful outcome is yet another proof point.”
Sysco (NYSE: SYY) is a marketer and distributor of various food and related products to the foodservice or food-away-from-home industry in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and internationally. The Houston-headquartered company has annual revenue of more than $75 billion and operates approximately 330 distribution facilities worldwide that service over 90 countries.
“We’re incredibly proud of what DON was able to accomplish during our partnership,” added Nikhil Bhat, a co-head of investments at Vestar. “The company continued its long track record of successful organic growth and established itself as a premier platform in its industry, all while navigating a disruptive global pandemic. We’re grateful to the DON team for their leadership and hard work over our nearly seven year partnership together in delivering this terrific outcome.”
Vestar specializes in both minority and control management buyouts and growth capital investments. Sectors of interest include consumer, business and technology services, and healthcare. Since Vestar’s founding in 1988, the firm has completed more than 92 platform investments, more than 200 add-on acquisitions, with a total value of more than $52 billion. Vestar has offices in New York City and Denver.
J.P. Morgan Securities and William Blair were financial advisors to DON and Vestar.
© 2023 Private Equity Professional | December 6, 2023
