Toni R. Spigelmyer
Assistant Vice President,
Investor and Media Relations
SYSCO FILES SHELF REGISTRATION FOR 2,850,000 SHARES
HOUSTON, February 14, 2000 - SYSCO Corporation (NYSE: SYY) announced
today that it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a shelf
registration covering 2,850,000 shares of common stock to be offered from time
to time in connection with acquisitions.
Charles H. Cotros, president and chief executive officer of SYSCO
Corporation, said, "SYSCO has closed or announced six acquisitions in fiscal
2000 for varying combinations of stock and cash. Since the company continues to
seek attractive acquisition candidates, this filing will provide SYSCO with
greater flexibility in structuring and closing future transactions."
SYSCO is the largest foodservice marketing and distribution
organization in North America, generating annualized sales in excess of $18.5
billion based on first half fiscal 2000 results. The company provides food and
services to approximately 325,000 customers including restaurants, healthcare
and educational institutions, lodging facilities and other foodservice
operations. The SYSCO distribution network currently extends throughout the
entire contiguous United States and Alaska as well as portions of Canada. For
the first half of fiscal 2000, which ended January 1, 2000, the company reported
sales of $9.3 billion and net earnings of $199.5 million.
This information was furnished on behalf of SYSCO, its Board of
Directors and management. Please read SYSCO's Registration Statement on Form S-4
and the documents incorporated by reference filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission since they contain important information concerning SYSCO's
common stock and the terms of the shelf offering. The registration statement and
related documents are publicly available. You can read a copy of SYSCO's
Registration Statement and its other SEC filings for free at the SEC's web site
at http://www.sec.gov.
Certain statements made herein are forward-looking statements under the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. They include statements regarding
annualized sales and acquisitions. These statements involve risks and
uncertainties and are based on current expectations and management's estimates;
actual results may differ materially. Those risks and uncertainties that could
impact these statements include the risks relating to the foodservice
distribution industry's relatively low profit margins and sensitivity to
economic conditions, SYSCO's leverage and debt risks, the risk of exposure to
product liability claims, the risk of interruption of supplies due to lack of
long-term contracts, work stoppages or otherwise, the inability to find or
complete attractive acquisitions and other risk factors detailed in SYSCO's Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended July 3, 1999 filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
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