Court Grants FTC Request For Prelim Injunction To Block Sysco-US Foods Merger

(RTTNews) - The U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia has granted the Federal Trade Commission's request for a preliminary injunction to block food distributor Sysco Corp.'s (SYY) proposed merger with US Foods.

"While we respect the Court's decision, we are profoundly disappointed with this outcome. We diligently pursued this transaction for nearly two years because we strongly believed the merger of Sysco and US Foods would be procompetitive and good for customers, associates and shareholders. Nevertheless, we certainly understood this outcome to be possible and have been developing plans for the business moving forward. We will take a few days to closely review the Court's ruling and assess our legal and contractual obligations, including the merits of terminating the merger agreement. This work will be conducted in close collaboration with Sysco's Board of Directors and the primary owners of US Foods. We will provide additional clarity in the coming days," said Sysco President and Chief Executive Officer Bill DeLaney in a statement.

"The Court's ruling today temporarily blocking Sysco's proposed acquisition of US Foods will preserve competition in both local and national broadline foodservice distribution markets. We look forward to proving at trial that this deal would lead to higher prices and diminished service for customers, including restaurants, hospitals, hotels, and schools," said FTC Bureau of Competition Director Debbie Feinstein.