Pierre Foods Merges with Advance Foods, Advance Brands

CINCINNATIPierre Foods Inc., announced it will merge with Advance Food Company Inc., and Advance Brands LLC, to form a new company, Advance Pierre Foods, which will be a leading supplier of value-added protein and handheld convenience food products to the foodservice, school, retail, club, vending and convenience store channels. The deal is expected to close within the next few months, pending customary closing conditions.

Advance Pierre Foods, which will be based in Cincinnati with some offices in Oklahoma, will offer a full line of packaged sandwiches, fully cooked chicken and beef products, Philly-style steak, breaded beef, pork, and poultry and bakery products. Advance Pierre Foods will operate protein processing facilities in Oklahoma, Ohio and Iowa, as well as sandwich assembly facilities in North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina. The company also will operate bakeries in North Carolina and Oklahoma.

According to the terms of the deal, Oaktree Capital Management LP, the current majority shareholder of Pierre Foods, will maintain a majority share of the combined company. Current shareholders of Advance Food Company, the Allen and McLaughlin Families, will own a minority share of the combined company.

The management team for Advance Pierre Foods will include executives from all three companies. Bill Toler, current CEO of Pierre Foods, will become the CEO of Advance Pierre Foods; Greg Allen, current CEO of Advance Food Company will join the Board of Directors of the new company.

"Pierre is extremely pleased to merge with these two outstanding companies we have known and admired over the years. The new and expanded product offerings and distribution network will give our combined customers tremendous variety, quality and value," Toler said. "Our businesses are wonderfully complementary, and we share common corporate philosophies around the importance of taking care of both customers and employees."

"Pierre has had a long tradition of providing innovative and high-quality products that are a natural fit for our company," said Mark Allen, current president of Advance Food Company. "The combination of resources from all three companies will provide more options and opportunities across all sales channels, resulting in a stronger company going forward into the future."