Ahold to Sell U.S. Foodservice to Buyout Firms for $7.1 Billion

AMSTERDAM — Ahold here said Wednesday it had reached an agreement to sell its U.S. Foodservice subsidiary to private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for $7.1 billion — a price that well exceeded the $5 billion figure some analysts had expected. The deal, which requires shareholder approval and antitrust clearance, is expected to close in the second half of the year, Ahold said. USF is the second largest food-service distributor in the United States, with sales of $19.2 billion in fiscal 2006. Ahold acquired the company, then doing around $7 billion in sales, for $3.6 billion in 2000, only to see it become the source of a crippling accounting scandal in 2003. Ahold stock was up by nearly 7% after the announcement Wednesday.