Acme Markets to Buy 76 A&P Stores

In the immediate wake of A&P's July 19 Chapter 11 filing, Malvern, Pa.-based Acme Markets has tendered a deal to acquire 76 of the beleaguered chain's namesake, Superfresh and Pathmark banners.

Acme's offer, subject to customary legal and bankruptcy court approvals, will expand it's footprint both within and outside of its current core eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware operating territory to include stores in Connecticut, Maryland and New York.

Montvale, N.J.-based A&P has asked the court for an order requiring other bidders to submit their bids by Sept. 11, with an expectation that court approval for the sale of the stores would be received by Oct. 15. As Progressive Grocer previously reported, Ahold USA's Stop & Shop division is poised to acquire 25 New York metro-area A&P stores.

RBC Capital Markets is the exclusive financial adviser on the transaction; Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is bankruptcy counsel; Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP is outside legal counsel on antitrust matters; Greenberg Traurig, LLP is outside legal counsel on real estate matters; and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Bank of America Merrill Lynch provided committed financing in support of the acquisition.

Acme Markets, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boise, Idaho-based AB Acquisition LLC (Albertsons Cos.) since 2013, operates 107 stores, including Sav-On Pharmacies at select locations, in eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey, and employs 11,000 associates. For its part, Albertsons operates stores across 33 states and the District of Columbia under 18 banners, including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market and Carrs.