First Citizens Bank served as syndication agent, joint lead arranger and joint bookrunner on a $400 million senior credit facility for Alex Lee, a family-owned and operated company based in Hickory, NC, whose portfolio of wholesale food distribution and retail grocery store brands includes Merchants Distributors, Souto Foods, Lowes Foods and W. Lee Flowers & Company.

The five-year revolving credit facility refinanced existing debt and increased the company’s facility size to support business growth.

“We appreciate the role that First Citizens played in arranging financing to support our continued growth in the grocery wholesale and supermarket industries,” Brian George, president and CEO at Alex Lee, said. “We’ve enjoyed working with First Citizens in the past and they’ve again demonstrated their knowledge and efficiency in the financing process.”

“We are pleased to provide this financing to Alex Lee Inc., a company that First Citizens has supported since 2016,” Brendan Chambers, who heads the First Citizens Middle-Market Banking team, said. “Alex Lee’s strategic leadership, innovative vision and community focus have driven strong historical growth, and we look forward to further strengthening our relationship with this valuable client in the future.”