Two giants of sports nutrition distribution, Europa Sports Products and Lone Star Distribution, have agreed to merge. The companies broke the news on their respective Facebook pages—Europa, Lone Star—noting they will continue to operate separately as they continue to create plans to unify the brands, pricing, operations and other aspects of the merger. They said the business will likely be operationally merged later this year.

"We are extremely excited to inform you that Europa Sports and Lone Star are merging to provide even greater value and opportunity to our vendors, customers and associates," said from Jeff Compton, co-founder and co-CEO of Europa Sports. “This merger brings together two recognized industry leaders with similar cultures that are dedicated to premier service and reliability."

Compton went on to explain the merger is expected to provide each distributor’s vendors access to more retail opportunities and will offer customers a wider variety of sports nutrition products, as well as better service from the synergies of the two distributors. Further, the merging of these top competitors will provide associates from both companies more opportunities to expand their skills and experience. “Our commitment is to blend the best that each company has to offer," Compton said.

While the two companies will continue to operate their respective websites, they set up a new website, OneGoalOneMission.com, where vendors and customers can go to learn more about the merger.

The management of the merged company will feature executives from both distributors. Europa co-founders Compton and Eric Hillman will be co-CEOs, and Lone Star CEO John Hoffman will remain onboard as a shareholder, in addition to continuing to work his key relationships with vendors and other partners. Robbie Duncan of Europa will be COO and Lone Star CFO Chris Chotard will be CFO of the new company, while Lone Star’s National Sales Manager Shawn Moe will join Europa’s Justin Weeks and Rick Hurd to form the new sales management team.

The new company will eventually be branded as Europa Sports Nutrition when it formally launches later this year. Until then, each company will operate separately, with few if any immediate changes.