Early history
The company traces its roots to John Sexton & Company, founded in 1883. It was one of the first food distributors to develop a national sales force and distribution network, first with a horse and wagon, and after 1924, with a diesel truck fleet.[4]
In 1968, John Sexton & Co. was purchased by Beatrice Foods for $37.5 million.[5]
In the 1970s, the Pearce-Young-Angel Company (PYA) merged with Monarch Foods, then owned by Consolidated Foods Corporation (the precursor of Sara Lee).[4]
In 1983, S.E. Rykoff merged with Sexton to become Rykoff-Sexton.[4][6][7]
In the late 1980s, Sara Lee completed the corporate spin-off of its northeastern and mid-Atlantic portions of the company to management in a leveraged buyout, forming JP Foodservice.[4]
In 1996, JP Foodservice acquired the remaining portion of PYA/Monarch.[4]
In 1992, United Signature Foods Inc. was created. United Signature Foods Inc. After a series of mergers and buyouts between Rykoff-Sexton and US Foodservice and finally JP Foodservice, the company became a nationwide distributor.[4]
1990s
In November 1994, the company adopted the name JP Foodservice, Inc. and became a public company via an initial public offering. Sara Lee Corporation then held 37% of JP common stock. The public offering raised $80 million, and JP restructured and paid off much of its debt.[8]
Toward the end of 1995, the company and its former parent, Sara Lee Corporation, began talks about exchanging PYA/Monarch, Sara Lee's southeastern foodservice subsidiary, for JP stock worth about $946 million.[9] Yet, the two companies failed to reach agreement on several factors, including valuation (JP's stock price had gone up in expectation of the merger), structure, and dilution of earnings to existing shareholders, and the deal fell through in February 1996. The experience left both sides bitter, and JP was expected to find a way to reduce Sara Lee's presence or end its investment in the company all together.[10]
In late 1996, Sara Lee sold its remaining stake in JP Foodservice.[11]
2010s - present
In August 2010, John A. Lederer was appointed president and chief executive officer.[16][17]
In September 2011, U.S. Foodservice announced its name change to US Foods, Inc. (styled as "US. Foods" in the new logo unveiled at the same time).[18][19]
In December 2013, Sysco agreed to acquire US Foods for $8.2 billion but the merger was terminated in 2015 after failure to get regulatory approval due to antitrust concerns.[20][21][22]
