NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Supervalu Inc.'s (SVU) advisors are asking potential buyers to bid for the entire business even as the suitors inquire about individual parts of the grocery chain, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
According to the Bloomberg report, Cerberus Capital Management LP is exploring a deal for the Albertsons unit, while Amsterdam-based Koninklijke Ahold NV (AHODY.PK, AHONY.PK), the parent of Giant Food Services LLC, has evinced interest in the Shoppers chain.
Albertsons is the largest retail chain at Supervalu. The company's other retail store brands include Shaw's, Acme, Jewel-Osco and Save-A-Lot.
Supervalu has been facing rough weather lately, as customers switch over to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), seeking lower prices. The stiff competition and higher costs have hurt its bottom line.
The company is now trying to curb costs to aggressively lower its prices and improve customer satisfaction.
Supervalu, in early July, revealed a review of strategic alternatives review, including a sale of the company, and suspended its dividend payment. The company has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Greenhill & Co. to find a buyer.
A sale of the entire company is seen as difficult partly due to the reason that Supervalu has eleven far-flung regional grocery chains and these chains are very different from each other.
However, the Bloomberg report noted that a private equity buyer could acquire the entire company, retain some of the chains and sell the others.
In late July, Supervalu named Chairman Wayne Sales to replace President and CEO Craig Herkert with immediate effect.
SVU closed Thursday's regular session at $2.12, down $0.04 or 1.85 percent on a volume of 3.06 milliomn shares. In after-hours, the stock gained $0.22 or 10.38 percent to $2.34.
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