Albertson’s confirmed yesterday (22 December) that it has terminated all discussions regarding the potential sale of the entire company.
In a brief statement, the company added that, in order to improve shareholder value, it continues to be involved in discussions with several parties that are interested in acquiring its underperforming assets.
The statement confirms press speculation, reported on just-food earlier yesterday, that discussions surrounding the takeover of Albertsons Inc had broken down.
It is still unclear why negotiations between investors who were thought to be close to securing a deal and Albersons board had fallen through.
The consortium – made up of drugstore chain CVS Corp, SuperValu Inc. supermarkets, Cerberus Capital Management and Kimco Realty Corp – had been planning to offer US$9.6 billion in cash and stock for the retail group, or about US$26 a share.
A report in The New York Times said Albertsons was now looking at several other options. These could include selling some underperforming stores and its drugstore business, an unidentified source told the paper. The company could use the proceeds to recapitalise.
