Performance Food Group to purchase c-store wholesaler Core-Mark

Performance Food Group Co., parent of vend product distributor Vistar, said it is acquiring Core-Mark Holding Co. Inc. in a stock and cash transaction.

Under the terms of the transaction, unanimously approved by the board of directors of each company, Core-Mark shareholders will receive $23.875 per share in cash and 0.44 PFG shares for each Core-Mark share.

The transaction values Core-Mark at approximately $2.5 billion, including Core-Mark’s net debt. Upon closing of the transaction, Core-Mark shareholders will own approximately 13% of the combined company. Core-Mark expects to continue paying its current quarterly dividend through the completion of the transaction.

According to PFG, the transaction will create a best-in-class convenience business within PFG’s Vistar segment that will include the Core-Mark and Eby-Brown businesses.

The expanded convenience business will operate under the Core-Mark brand and will be headquartered in Westlake, TX, with Eby-Brown maintaining ongoing operations in Naperville, IL.

Scott McPherson will continue in his role as president and chief executive of Core-Mark. Tom Wake will continue as president and chief executive of Eby-Brown and will report to McPherson.

Core-Mark is one of the largest wholesale distributors to the convenience retail industry in North America with about $17 billion in net sales. It has some 7,500 employees and operates 32 distribution centers in the U.S. and Canada. It services approximately 40,000 customer locations in all 50 states in the U.S., five Canadian provinces and two Canadian territories.