HOUSTON and HEREDIA, Costa Rica, May 13, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY), North America's leading foodservice distributor, today announced that it has reached an agreement to purchase 50 percent of Mayca Distribuidores S.A ("Mayca") of Costa Rica and Mayca's three other affiliates for an undisclosed price. According to the terms of the agreement, Sysco will own one-half of the stock in privately held Mayca.
Mayca, which has been in business since 1995, is a leading food distributor across Costa Rica. In addition to its distribution business, Mayca has a retail cash-and-carry affiliate with seven locations, a cold-storage company and a truck-leasing company.
At year-end 2013, Mayca had 405 employees, all of whom – including the management team – will remain in place at the closing of the transaction.
"This is a great day for the employees and customers of Mayca, as we become joint partners with Sysco, which is considered the global industry leader in foodservice distribution," said Jose Maroto, president and CEO of Mayca. "Most important, our customers will further benefit from the breadth of Sysco's product assortment, capabilities and years of professional expertise."
"We are excited to be partnering with the Mayca family of businesses, as they are well respected across Costa Rica for their focus on customer service and their success," said Kent Humphries, Sysco's senior vice president-International Foodservice Operations. "With this being our first strategic investment in Central America, we also will be looking to the Mayca leadership team to help Sysco better understand the marketplace. We believe that we can combine the strengths of Mayca and Sysco to better serve customers in the region, to grow the business and to provide value to our shareholders."
Sysco's partnership with Mayca requires a regulatory review by Costa Rica government authorities, after which the transaction will be closed. Upon completion of the review and closing of the transaction, this will mark the fifth country outside the United States where Sysco will have a foodservice distribution company. The others are Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Bahamas. Additionally, Sysco has subsidiaries that serve customers in more than 90 countries throughout the world.
About Sysco
Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. The company operates 193 distribution facilities serving approximately 425,000 customers. For Fiscal Year 2013 that ended June 29, 2013, the company generated sales of more than $44 billion. For more information, visit www.sysco.com or connect with Sysco on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SyscoCorporation or Twitter at www.twitter.com/Sysco.