HANOVER, PA – (COMMERCIAL THREAD) – Utz Quality Foods, LLC (“Utz” or the “Company”), a leading US manufacturer of branded savory snacks, and Collier Creek Holdings (“Collier Creek”) (NYSE: CCH, CCH.U , CCH WS), a special purpose acquisition company, today announced that it has completed its business combination. The transaction was unanimously approved by the Collier Creek Board of Directors and was approved at a special meeting of Collier Creek shareholders on August 27, 2020. Pursuant to the business combination agreement, Collier Creek and Utz have teamed up to form Utz Brands. , Inc. (“Utz Brands”), one of the leading snack food platforms in the United States. The common shares of Utz Brands will trade under the symbol “UTZ” on the New York Stock Exchange effective August 31, 2020.
Founded in 1921, Utz has a strong heritage in the savory snack industry in the United States and over 40 years of continuous growth. The company’s iconic portfolio of authentic, artisan and best-for-you brands includes Utz®, Zapp’s®, Gold flake®, Good health®, Rock canyon®, Hawaiian® Brand, and TORTIYAHS!®, among others. The company operates 14 manufacturing plants nationwide with a wide range of capabilities and produces a full line of potato chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, vegetarian snacks, pork skins, pub / party mixes, Tortilla chips and other snacks, including innovative, healthier snacks. you snack options. Utz expects to generate net sales of $ 932 million in 2020.
Collier Creek was co-founded by Chinh Chu, Roger Deromedi and Jason Giordano, who bring over 80 years of combined investment and operating experience, with a focus on the consumer goods sector. Mr. Deromedi, who served a long and successful tenure as President of Pinnacle Foods and, before that, as CEO of Kraft Foods, will become President of Utz Brands. The board of directors of Utz Brands will be composed of a majority of independent directors in accordance with the applicable listing rules of the New York Stock Exchange.
Dylan Lissette, who has served as CEO of Utz since 2013 and has worked for the company for almost 25 years, will continue to lead the company with the existing management team. Utz Brands will retain its headquarters in Hanover, Pennsylvania.
The proceeds from the transaction were used primarily to repay existing borrowings at Utz. The Rice and Lissette family, the founding and owning family of Utz, have retained over 90% of their existing stake, which represents more than 50% of the capital of Utz Brands upon completion of the transaction.
“The completion of our business combination with Collier Creek and the launch of Utz as a public company marks a significant milestone and will fuel our next century of growth after nearly 100 years as a family business,” said Mr. Lissette. “We have spent the past 10 years building Utz a national brand and platform through rapid geographic portfolio and brand expansion through strategic acquisitions and organic growth. Our partnership with Roger and the Collier Creek team allows us to further accelerate our growth as a public company and achieve our goal of being the fastest growing pure-play branded snack company. . ”
Mr. Lissette continued, “By leveraging our proven track record of profitable growth and the expertise of the Collier Creek team in creating value in food platform businesses, we have several ways to earn in the growing category of salty snacks. Our growth strategy is focused on organic sales growth through increased marketing, new products and geographic expansion; the execution of significant opportunities to improve margins; reinvest productivity gains in the company to unlock turnover growth; and continue to build the Utz platform with strategic acquisitions.
“Our partnership with Utz brings together the financial and human capital of Collier Creek with an exceptional century-old business that has significant competitive advantages and a profitable growth path,” said Mr. Deromedi. “Utz is an iconic company with a strong portfolio of beloved snack brands, growing positions in the savory snack category and a competitive manufacturing and distribution network. We are excited to partner with Dylan and the talented leadership team at Utz to execute our proven operating strategy and drive value for all of our stakeholders. ”
Mr. Chu and Mr. Giordano added, “We are delighted to complete this transaction, which provides compelling value to our shareholders, and look forward to partnering with management to drive future growth and value creation at Utz. ”
Key terms of the transaction
Upon closing of the transaction, Collier Creek was domesticated as a Delaware corporation and the name of Collier Creek was changed to Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE: UTZ).
A more detailed description of the terms of the transaction will be included in a current report on Form 8-K which will be filed by Utz Brands with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
Goldman Sachs and Sageworth are acting as financial advisers to Utz. Citigroup, Credit Suisse, and BofA Securities act as Collier Creek Capital Markets Advisors. Citigroup and Credit Suisse are acting as lead financial advisers with BofA Securities and Nomura also acting as financial advisers to Collier Creek. Cozen O’Connor is acting as legal counsel to Utz and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as legal counsel to Collier Creek.
About Utz
Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE: UTZ) manufactures a diverse portfolio of savory snacks under popular brands such as Utz®, Zapp’s®, Golden Flake®, Good Health®, Boulder Canyon®, Hawaiian® Brand and TORTIYAHS! ®, between others .
After nearly a century, with a strong family heritage, Utz continues to have a passion for exciting and thrilled consumers with delicious snacks made with premium ingredients. Utz’s products are distributed nationally and internationally through grocery stores, department stores, clubs, convenience stores, drugs, and other channels. Based in Hanover, Pennsylvania, Utz operates fourteen facilities located in Pennsylvania, Alabama, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Washington and Massachusetts. For more information, please visit www.utzsnacks.com or call 1‐800 ‐ FOR ‐ SNAX.
About Collier Creek
Collier Creek is a special purpose acquisition company that completed its initial public offering in October 2018, raising proceeds of $ 440 million. Collier Creek was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more companies. Collier Creek was co-founded by Roger K. Deromedi, Chinh E. Chu and Jason K Giordano, who have over 80 years of investment and operating experience, with a focus on the consumer goods sector. Mr. Deromedi is the former Chairman of the Board of Pinnacle Foods and the former CEO of Kraft Foods. Mr. Chu and Mr. Giordano are Senior Managing Directors of CC Capital, a private investment firm.
Forward-looking statements
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The actual results of Collier Creek and Utz may differ from their expectations, estimates and projections and, therefore, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as “expect”, “estimate”, “project”, “budget”, “anticipate”, “anticipate”, “intend to”, “plan”, “can”, “can”, “Could”, “should,” “believe”, “predicted”, “potential”, “continuing” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the expectations of Collier Creek and Utz with respect to the future performance and anticipated financial impacts of the proposed business combination, the satisfaction of the closing conditions of the business combination. and the timetable for completing the business combination. . These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results. Most of these factors are beyond the control of Collier Creek and Utz and are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (1) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be brought against Collier Creek and Utz as a result of the completion of the business combination; (2) the inability to maintain the listing of the common shares of the post-business combination on the New York Stock Exchange after the business combination; (3) the risk that the business combination will disrupt current plans and operations; (4) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of the combined company to grow and manage its growth profitably and to retain key employees ; (5) costs associated with business combinations; (6) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (7) the possibility that Utz Brands will be affected by other economic, business and / or competitive factors; and (8) other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in the Management Proxy Circular / Business Combination Prospectus, including those included in the “Risk Factors” section and other filed documents. by Collier Creek with the SEC. Some of these risks and uncertainties could in the future be magnified by the COVID-19 outbreak and there could be additional risks that Utz Brands considers insignificant or that are unknown. It is not possible to predict or identify all of these risks. Utz Brands cautions that the above list of factors is not exclusive. Utz Brands cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are posted. Utz Brands does not undertake or accept any obligation or commitment to publicly post any updates or revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change of events, conditions or circumstances upon which such statement is based, unless otherwise required by law.
