Sysco CEO Kevin Hourican said Tuesday he expects the food distributor’s acquisition of Jetro Restaurant Depot to close in the first quarter of 2027.
“The entire purpose of this deal is to bring that phenomenal restaurant depot business model to hundreds of additional locations, which creates affordability and creates thousands of jobs,” Hourican said on CNBC’s “Mad Money.” “These are the facts that we believe the government will see when they do the review. And Jim, we’re confident that they will get approved.”
Sysco announced in March that it would acquire family-owned Jetro Restaurant Depot in a deal valued at roughly $29 billion. The transaction would push the largest Sysco into the higher-margin cash-and-carry business by adding Restaurant Depot’s roughly 166 warehouse locations across 35 states to Sysco’s existing delivery network.
The deal is now undergoing additional regulatory scrutiny after receiving a second request for information. That is particularly notable for Sysco, whose $3.5 billion acquisition of rival US Foods was blocked by a federal judge in 2015 after the Federal Trade Commission argued the combination could reduce competition and lead to higher prices.
Hourican argued the Restaurant Depot deal is different because the two companies largely serve different customers through distinct distribution models.
Restaurant Depot caters primarily to smaller independent restaurants and other food-service operators that travel to its warehouses, select their own products, and transport them back to their businesses, according to Hourican.
Sysco, meanwhile, he explained, primarily serves larger customers that want food and other supplies delivered directly to them, along with services including sales support, menu administration, and culinary innovation.
“We have our cash-and-carry customer who’s choosing to go to the Restaurant Depot store to buy their product to save money. We have a delivery-primary customer who wants delivery,” Hourican said. “So they’re different channels.”
Hourican also sought to address potential concerns that Sysco could use its increased scale to raise prices. He said the company intends to preserve Restaurant Depot’s low-cost model and expand it into more markets.
