Tyson Foods Acquires Original Philly Holdings after Strong Fourth Quarter

With leading brands like Tyson®, Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire Farm®, Ball Park®, Wright®, Aidells®, ibp®, and State Fair® to its name, Tyson Foods, Inc. adds another protein producer to its protein mecca with the announcement of its acquisition of Original Philly Holdings. After recording a strong fourth quarter, Tyson acquired Philadelphia-based Original Philly Holdings, Inc., a producer of raw and fully-cooked Philly-style sandwich steak and cheesesteak appetizer products, to meet plans to continue to grow in 2018.

“Original Philly Holdings is a natural, strategic fit with our Prepared Foods Business,” said Tyson Foods Prepared Foods Group President Sally Grimes, in a recent press release. “The Original Philly brand and portfolio of products are highly regarded in the foodservice industry and have a growing list of customer relationships with chain and convenience store operators. We look forward to combining our commercial and operational resources with Original Philly Holdings’ capabilities to offer new solutions to customers and consumers, expand distribution, and continue the growth and legacy of the business.”

Consisting of two business units: Original Philly Cheesesteak Company, which manufactures raw Philly Style sandwich steak products, and Philadelphia Pre-Cooked Steak Company, which manufactures fully-cooked Philly-style sandwich steak products, Original Philly Holdings employs 250 people across two plants, and has customers in foodservice, retail, and convenience store providers. Integration teams from Tyson Foods and Original Philly are in the works with high-quality customer service a top priority during the transition.

“We’re excited to be part of the Tyson Foods family, which will allow us to build on the legacy of our business,” said John Karamatsoukas, President and CEO of Original Philly Holdings. “Tyson Foods is a leader in the food industry and has a strong reputation for successfully acquiring and growing family-owned businesses like ours. With deep appreciation for our customers, employees, and vendor’s contributions to Original Philly’s success, I remain confident that Tyson Foods will honor and operate the business in a manner consistent with the values we embrace.”

The acquisition comes at the tail end of a strong fourth quarter. “The fourth quarter was a strong finish to another record year,” Tom Hayes, Tyson Foods’ President and Chief Executive Officer, said in a press release. “We delivered well over our goals of at least 4 percent operating income growth, EPS growth in the high single digits and 3 percent volume growth in value-added products, and expect to meet or exceed these goals again in fiscal 2018.”

Fiscal 2017 Highlights included:

• Record GAAP EPS of $4.79, up 6% from last year; Record Adjusted EPS of $5.31, up 21% from last year
• Record GAAP operating income of $2,931 million; Record Adjusted operating income of $3,263 million
• Total company GAAP operating margin at 7.7%; Record Adjusted operating margin at 8.5%
• Operating cash flow of $2.6 billion

Fourth Quarter Highlights included:

• GAAP EPS of $1.07, up 4% from last year; Adjusted EPS of $1.43, up 49% from last year
• GAAP operating income of $681 million; Adjusted operating income of $902 million
• Total company GAAP operating margin at 6.7%; Adjusted operating margin at 8.9%
• Reduced debt over $600 million

“Our plan is to grow our business year after year through differentiated capabilities, deliver ongoing financial fitness through continuous improvement, and sustain our company as we sustainably feed the world with the fastest growing portfolio of protein packed brands,” continued Hayes.

With Tyson Foods succeeding and expanding, what will 2018 hold for the protein company? Deli Market News will continue to report.