The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports that as Supervalu considers selling off its Save-A-Lot discount retail brand rather than spinning it off as originally expected, Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp. is said to have made the highest bid.
A decision is expected before the end of October. Save-A-Lot could be worth as much as $1.8 billion. There are more than 1,300 Save-A-Lot stores, but the majority are licensees.
According to the story, "Supervalu has been talking about shedding Save-A-Lot for more than a year. It's among the best-performing units for Supervalu, but the company has been refocusing on its wholesale business in recent years, selling several units to Cerberus Capital Management in 2013.
"Supervalu initially planned a spinoff of the business, but began entertaining sale offers from private equity firms late last year."
A decision is expected before the end of October. Save-A-Lot could be worth as much as $1.8 billion. There are more than 1,300 Save-A-Lot stores, but the majority are licensees.
According to the story, "Supervalu has been talking about shedding Save-A-Lot for more than a year. It's among the best-performing units for Supervalu, but the company has been refocusing on its wholesale business in recent years, selling several units to Cerberus Capital Management in 2013.
"Supervalu initially planned a spinoff of the business, but began entertaining sale offers from private equity firms late last year."
- KC's View:
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I just hope that all this dithering is not having a negative impact on Save-A-Lot CEO Eric Claus and his team's ability to turn Save-A-Lot around and make it more competitive in a competitive climate where Aldi is growing and Lidl is coming. I'm a big Eric Claus fan, but sit helps to be able to operate in a stable environment ... and I think even he would agree that Save-A-Lot has to make some serious leaps to get where it needs to be.
