US Foods and Performance Food Group End Merger Talks Dating Back to 2025
Key Facts
It could not be verified that merger talks between US Foods and Performance Food Group resumed on November 8, 2026, while the companies’ records confirm that the previous information-sharing process ended by mutual agreement on November 24, 2025. US Foods said in a statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the parties would not continue pursuing a potential merger. Accordingly, the information sharing linked to discussion of a deal concerned a previous process that ended about a year ago. No new announcement that the parties had returned to talks in 2026 was found in the available information. This comes as US Foods reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2026, though those results do not change the status of talks settled by the November 2025 statement.
US Foods said its review of a potential merger included an analysis of synergies and regulatory considerations, and that its board and executive management decided to end the talks after completing the analysis. The company said in a statement: "We completed our comprehensive analysis, including synergies and regulatory considerations." These factors were part of the assessment of the previous process and do not confirm the aims of any new talks in 2026. US Foods’ chief executive said on August 7, 2025, that the company had invited Performance Food Group to discuss the merits of combining the companies, but the invitation was rejected. In that context, he said a potential deal could create value for both companies and their stakeholders and strengthen competition in the foodservice sector.
On operating performance, US Foods’ net sales rose 2.1% to $10.4 billion in the third financial quarter of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier. Net income increased 42.5% to $218 million during the quarter. Total case volume sold also rose 1.3% year over year. Performance varied across customer channels: independent restaurant volume grew 5.0%, while chain volume declined 1.5%. These figures show the mix of growth the company recorded during the quarter, with activity expanding among independent restaurants and chain volume falling.
US Foods attributed sales growth to higher case volume and food cost inflation of 0.4% in the third financial quarter of 2026. For fiscal 2026, its guidance range for adjusted diluted earnings per share growth is now 18% to 20%, down from the previous range of 18% to 24%. The company said its updated outlook includes a fifty-third fiscal week, which is expected to add about 1% to growth in total case volume and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. After the quarter ended, US Foods completed its acquisition of Prime Line Distributors, an independent specialty food distributor based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. These developments relate to US Foods’ operations and guidance and do not in themselves indicate that information sharing with Performance Food Group has resumed.
The 2025 talks had put the potential combination of two of the largest U.S. foodservice distributors into the sector’s competition debate. In an October 8, 2025 report, Reuters described the companies as the second- and third-largest distributors and said a potential merger could have helped them compete with Sysco, the sector leader. The report estimated Sysco’s market share at about 17% and said the deal would have left three companies controlling about 35% of the market. In a regulatory precedent, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission challenged Sysco’s proposed $8.2 billion acquisition of US Foods in 2015, arguing it would reduce competition; the companies then abandoned the deal after a preliminary injunction blocked it. These remain facts related to previous deals and discussions, not an announcement of a new path between US Foods and Performance Food Group.
In the latest trading data available, Performance Food Group shares closed at $107.5 on November 6, 2026, while US Foods shares closed at $106.67 on the same day. In other sector deal developments, Senators Cory Booker and Tammy Baldwin urged the Federal Trade Commission on August 26, 2026, to investigate Sysco’s proposed acquisition of Jetro Restaurant Depot, warning of effects on competition and restaurant and consumer costs. Sysco disclosed that it and Jetro received requests for additional information from the commission on May 27, 2026. The company said the regulatory waiting period runs for 30 days after substantial compliance with the request, unless the commission ends it sooner. These proceedings concern the Sysco-Jetro deal and do not provide evidence that US Foods and Performance Food Group merger talks have resumed.