STAMFORD Conn. After months of actively seeking a buyer, Centerplate Inc., the contract foodservice provider specializing in sports and entertainment venues, said Friday that private-equity firm Kohlberg & Co. LLC has agreed to purchase the company in a deal valued between $180 million and $200 million.
Under the terms of the deal, the acquisition will be accomplished through a debt tender for up to 70 percent of Centerplate's notes and a merger in which 100 percent of the company's common stock will be purchased. Each unit holder of Centerplate's notes will receive approximately $4 per unit.
In addition to the per-share value, the deal includes the assumption of debt, said Centerplate spokeswoman Gael Doar. According to data compiled for Nation's Restaurant News' 2008 Top 100 company census, Centerplate's estimated annual U.S. foodservice sales totaled about $709.6 million.
Centerplate officials said they expect the acquisition to be completed in the first quarter of 2009 pending stockholder approval.
Centerplate chief executive Janet Steinmayer said in a statement that the company was pleased to be joining Kohlberg & Co. and that the deal would put the company in "an even stronger position to serve the long-term interests of our clients."
Doar said Centerplate's operations would continue as they have in the past and that Steinmayer would remain the company's chief executive.
An industry insider who requested anonymity said a number of on-site companies, including Aramark, Delaware North and Ovation, had initially expressed interest in acquiring the company, but noted "if it made sense for any of the competitors to have purchased them, they would have."
In response, Centerplate's Doar said the company had never confirmed those companies were interested, and that "given the current realities of the economy, we think we found the best deal."
In recent years, Centerplate has had a reversal of fortunes, including the loss of its foodservice contract at Yankee Stadium, a contract it had held for the past 40 years, but that ends at the conclusion of the 2008 Major League Baseball season. The revenue from that contract alone is responsible for approximately 10 percent of the company's total sales. It also lost contract with the Minnesota Twins and, according to press reports, could be in jeopardy of losing its deal with the Washington Nationals next year.
Doar said she wasn't aware of any problems or dissatisfaction with the foodservice at the Nationals account.
