Terms of the agreement give AdvancePierre ownership of Landshire's sandwich manufacturing operations, which includes more than 80 frozen, fully cooked products and a wide variety of sandwiches such as patties, subs, wedges, breakfast offerings and specialty items.
“We are very excited about the recognized and established product platform and first-class facility that Landshire brings to our existing portfolio and network,” said John Simons, president and CEO of AdvancePierre. “We are eager to build upon the Trover family legacy and delighted to incorporate Landshire’s product capabilities for our customers across our broad sales channels. This acquisition underscores AdvancePierre’s commitment to innovation and quality as we continue to provide our customers with tasty and unique sandwiches and center-of-plate proteins solutions.”
Landshire was created in 1959 as a franchise under the name Lakeshire Sandwiches. In 1966, Joseph “Jody” Trover, a driver for the company, bought the operation and changed the name to Landshire. The Trover family will keep its proprietary direct delivery distribution network of more than 100 routes in 23 states after the deal closes and both companies reach a mutually beneficial distribution agreement. The distribution business will be known as Landshire Distribution. AdvancePierre expects the transaction to close during the first quarter of 2015.
Landshire's sandwich operations have a significant presence in foodservice, retail and convenience channels, AdvancePierre noted. The acquisition also brings a new portfolio of premium products that will complement AdvancePierre's existing product lineup while aligning with the channels the company already serves. AdvancePierre currently produces approximately 2 million sandwiches per day, and Landshire's facilities will provide the company with additional capacity for increased sandwich and bakery production. AdvancePierre expects the addition of Landshire to comprise more than 10 percent of AdvancePierre's sandwich sales in 2015.
“The acquisition of Landshire’s wholesale and manufacturing operations further fortifies AdvancePierre’s market-leading position in providing sandwich solutions to our customers,” noted Matthew Wilson, director of AdvancePierre’s board of directors and co-portfolio manager at Oaktree Capital Management, LP. “We continue to see a significant number of highly attractive, synergistic acquisition opportunities for our two core business lines – sandwiches and value-added protein solutions – and believe the company is well capitalized to fund future opportunities as they arise. We expect AdvancePierre to announce additional transactions this year based upon our current pipeline of prospective partners.”
