Free Food

Locally based US Foodservice, which distributes food to hotels and restaurants, is sprung free from Dutch owned Royal Ahold in a $7 billion deal that puts it in the hands of two private-equity firms. The company is still recovering from an accounting scandal that forced out top execs and led to a $1 billion settlement with shareholders. No comment yet on what will happen to the firm going forward. Private equity firms often wring out excess costs -- read cut jobs -- in order to push up profits and get a return on their dollar.