It was an active year again in 2014 as business life-cycle factors and a healthy E&S market kept the pace of merger and acquisition activity relatively high. As has been typical lately, The Middleby Corp. was particularly active. Dealer activity was somewhat restrained after a very busy 2013. And there continued to be a number…

If you live in the Northeast, it may not seem like this winter is milder than last year’s. But it is for much of the country and that is helping restaurant sales trend higher, according to Black Box Intelligence, as reported in Nation’s Restaurant News. According to the research group’s Restaurant Industry Snapshot, which tracks…

The party had to end sometime. The run-up in consumer confidence took a pause during the first half of February, according to the preliminary reading from the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index, released Feb. 13. The index fell unexpectedly to 93.6 from a final measure of 98.1 in January. That reading was the strongest…

Nearly 80% of restaurant operators polled for Restaurants Canada’s Restaurant Outlook Survey reported increased or equal same-store sales in the fourth quarter of last year. The percentage reporting lower sales fell to only 23%, the lowest percentage since the survey began in 2011. But operators are less optimistic about sales trends during the next six…

We’ve been so busy with getting ready for The NAFEM Show and our biennial FER Industry Excellence Awards program that we haven’t had a chance to do our annual round-up of the year in mergers and sales. It was an active year again in 2014 as business life-cycle factors and a healthy E&S market kept…

TriMark USA has consolidated two of its divisions, Atlanta-based TriMark Century Concepts and TriMark Strategic, into one newly combined unit. The new entity, known as TriMark Strategic and based in Coppell, Texas, should enable the company to gain a stronger footprint in the southeastern United States. While continuing to serve local and national customers, TriMark…

Despite moves to create a more even playing field, Sysco Corp.’s planned acquisition of US Foods has hit an impasse. The country’s largest foodservice distributor says its year-long negotiations with antitrust regulators over the acquisition have come to a standstill despite Sysco’s just-proposed agreement to create competition for itself by selling rival broadliner Performance Food…

Electrolux announced an agreement Feb. 5 to acquire Shanghai Veetsan Commercial Machinery Co. Ltd., one of the largest manufacturers of professional dishwashers in China. The acquisition further strengthens Electrolux Professional Products’ position in China and across the Asia Pacific region, where the company sees potential for significant growth in the next few years. “Professional dishwashing…

Stiefel Associates, the 30-year-old Lansing, Mich.-based manufacturers’ rep firm, has expanded into the ventilation business with its purchase of Vent Tech. The acquisition, announced Jan.1, was made under a newly formed sister company, Stiefel Distributing. Vent Tech is a Roseville, Mich., manufacturers’ rep/distributor of foodservice ventilation equipment in Michigan and Indiana. Founder Jim Nichols and…

PB&J is not just a sandwich, it’s the moniker for a newly formed independent manufacturers’ rep firm. A couple of industry veterans have combined forces as principals in PB&J Commercial Agents: PJ Lamb, formerly of Fountain Products, and Carl Boutilier, most recently of HGA. The firm, based in suburban Chicago, will serve MAFSI Region 17…