Waterloo – Piller’s Meats and Delicatessens Ltd. has been sold to Premium Brands of Vancouver for $133 million, $113 million cash and $74 million worth of Premium shares.
Another $10 million will be paid if Piller’s meets sales targets before the deal closes at the end of the month. It’s annual sales are about $180 million and it employs close to 600 people.I consider Piller's the best meat-packing company in Canada, based on CFIA ratings of its facilities and the quality of its products.
Premium Brands says it will be a good fit in the deli meat business, pairing its strong Eastern Canadian sales with Grimm’s strong Western Canadian market.
It also owns half of a turkey-processing plant at Arthur.
Piller’s is run by the second generation of three Huber brothers who bought the business in 1957. They have won many national and European awards for sausages.
Piller’s out-flanked Schneider Corp. on the quality front, leaving the Kitchener company squeezed on the high-volume, lower-priced side of the market by Maple Leaf Foods Inc., which eventually bought Schneiders.
Piller’s grew rapidly during the 1990s, building a number of large additions and the joint-venture plant at Arthur. New Life Mills, owners of the Swift brand for turkeys, is the partner there.
