<p> US Foods and Sysco might have some more ammunition in their respective bandoliers to persuade antitrust regulators that their $8.2 billion merger is justified. <B>Smaller competing suppliers are growing fast</b>, further suggesting that this mega merger might have little effect on the competitive market, if at all.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Jetro Holdings LLC, which operates restaurant-supply retailers, recently bought back some of its shares at a price that values the company at <B>$9 billion</b>, according to Wall Street Journal. That’s almost nine times the company’s valuation ten years ago. Meanwhile, other small specialty suppliers are continuing to grow at a similar fast pace, putting <B>increasing pressure</b> on the merger between Sysco and US Foods.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Although Jetro is still just a small drop in the bucket compared to foodservice giants Sysco and US Foods, the company is expanding quickly. Last year, Jetro had sales of about <B>$8 billion</b>, while its revenue has continued to increase at <B>double-digit percentage rates</b> over the past several years, faster than Sysco’s, according to the Wall Street Journal. Compare this to Sysco, whose net income for its fiscal third quarter fell 10% from a year earlier, even though revenue rose 3.2% to $11.28 billion. Still, Sysco’s March and April sales were significantly stronger than the first couple months of the year, which were impacted by severe winter weather.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“Local restaurants still make up a high percentage of our business, and we need to be more productive and efficient to compete with cash-and-carry for their business,” said Sysco Chief Executive Bill DeLaney.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">There’s been some discussion that the $8.2 billion merger between Sysco and US Foods might not happen simply because these two companies would represent a combined total of 27% of the market. I previously reported on this topic back in March, noting that despite US Foods/Sysco’s extensive grasp of the market, there are a few antitrust consultancies who say that the deal is still likely to happen. <B>For more reasons how and why the merger might affect the industry, check out our previous article linked below.</b><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.andnowuknow.com/buyside-news/will-sysco-and-us-foods-merger-happen/10913/christofer-oberst" target="_new"> Click here to read: Will the Sysco and US Foods Merger Happen? </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p> While the FTC will still need to scrutinize the merger, US Foods and Sysco appear to be in a good position right now to get the deal approved. Along with the increased competitive pressure, I expect to see the merger to go through as planned.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue following the merger between Sysco and US Foods.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.sysco.com" target="_new"> Sysco </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.usfoods.com/index.html" target="_new"> US Foods </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
