Sysco announced it has reduced its outstanding debt by a total of $1.1 billion. The company repaid the remaining $700 million in outstanding borrowings under its long-term revolving credit facility that expires on June 28, 2024. In addition, Sysco’s United Kingdom-based subsidiary, Brake Bros Limited, repaid £300 million of its £600 million in aggregate principal amount of notes outstanding under its commercial paper program, equating to approximately $417 million in debt reduction.
“We are increasingly confident of the impending market recovery and believe now is a prudent time to begin reducing debt levels. We have strong liquidity and continue to invest against both the market recovery and our transformation efforts,” said Aaron Alt, Sysco’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. “With recent momentum in vaccine approvals and administration, we expect operational restrictions impacting the foodservice industry will begin to ease.”
The debt payments were funded from cash on hand, and will reduce interest expense by approximately $15 million annually.
About Sysco
Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. With more than 57,000 associates, the company operates 326 distribution facilities worldwide and serves more than 625,000 customer locations. For fiscal 2020 that ended June 27, 2020, the company generated sales of more than $52 billion.