Supervalu Inc. will sell its Albertsons, Acme and other chain stores to the company that at one point controlled Chrysler Corp.
AB Acquisition LLC (“AB Acquisition”), an affiliate oa Cerberus Capital Management L.P. (“Cerberus”)-led investor consortium will buy the stores for $3.3 billion, mainly the debt borne by the chains.
Other partners in the transaction are Kimco Realty Corporation, Klaff Realty LP, Lubert-Adler Partners and Schottenstein Real Estate Group.
In addition to the sale, , a newly-formed acquisition entity owned by a Cerberus-led investor consortium will conduct a tender offer for up to 30 percent of Supervalu’s outstanding common stock at a purchase price of $4 per share in cash. Supervalu will also get a new chief executive officer and board members.
Supervalu will continue to own Save-A-Lot, a discount grocery chain with stores in Delaware.
Supervalu has struggled with market share losses and profitability at Acme and its other chains that were part of the previous acquisition of Albertsons. Published reports have indicated that Acme, has lost its No. 1 market share position in the Delaware Valley to Shoprite
Cerberus is a private equity firm that acquired Chrysler, which later went into bankruptcy proceedings during the economic downturn and led to the closing of the Newark plant.
The presence of new management is expected to increase speculation about further store reductions by Acme, which has closed smaller stores from time to time, with Maryland seeing the greatest reductions. Acme is based in Malvern, Pa.
