Will Purchase Substantially All Assets
DAYVILLE, Conn., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United Natural Foods,
Inc. (Nasdaq: UNFI) today announced it has signed a letter of intent to
acquire Blooming Prairie Cooperative, the largest volume distributor of
natural foods in the Midwest region. Blooming Prairie, headquartered in Iowa
City, IA and in business since 1974, had approximately $130 million in sales
for the latest twelve months. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Consummation of the acquisition is contingent, among other things, upon
execution of an asset purchase agreement and approval by the members of
Blooming Prairie.
Michael Funk, United Natural Foods Chief Executive Officer, said, "One of
our stated goals has been to further broaden our presence and increase
customer penetration in the fast growing Midwest market. Acquiring Blooming
Prairie's Iowa City and Minneapolis facilities will provide us with an
immediate physical base as well as the growth platform to meet that goal and
the volume to expand cost-effectively."
United Natural Foods expects the transaction to close in its' first or
second fiscal quarter. The Company also stated it expects the transaction to
be neutral to slightly accretive in the first full year following the
acquisition, and accretive thereafter.
About Blooming Prairie Cooperative
Blooming Prairie Cooperative carries and distributes approximately 15,000
products to more than 2,700 customers primarily in the Midwest. Blooming
Prairie serves a wide variety of retail formats including conventional
supermarket chains, natural product superstores, independent retail operators,
cooperatives and buying clubs.
About United Natural Foods
United Natural Foods, Inc. carries and distributes over 30,000 products to
more than 7,000 customers nationwide. The Company serves a wide variety of
retail formats including conventional supermarket chains, natural product
superstores and independent retail operators.
For more information on United Natural Foods, Inc., visit the Company's
web site at www.unfi.com .
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding United Natural's business
which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve
risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties,
which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the
forward-looking statements, including but not limited to general business
conditions, the impact of competition and our dependence on principal
customers, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q
filed with the Commission on June 13, 2002, and its other filings under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Any forward-looking statements
are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and,
as such, speak only as of the date made. United Natural Foods, Inc. is not
undertaking to update any information in the foregoing reports until the
effective date of its future reports required by applicable laws.
SOURCE United Natural Foods, Inc.
/CONTACT: Todd Weintraub, Chief Financial Officer of United Natural
Foods, +1-860-779-2800, or General, Joseph Calabrese, +1-212-445-8434,
Analysts, Vanessa Schwartz, +1-212-445-8433, Media, Judith Sylk-Siegel,
+1-212-445-8431, all of FRB Weber Shandwick/