Pending no objections filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and subject to higher bids at auction, The Wall Street Journal reports that A&P and Wakefern Food Corp. have sealed a $40 million deal for 12 east coast stores.
According to the report, the locations in question are 11 A&P, Pathmark, and Waldbaums stores in New York and Pennsylvania, plus one Connecticut A&P location, having gone for roughly $3.3 million each.
This is the second big sale A&P has been able to slate. The retailer has recently won bankruptcy court approval to sell 95 of its stores to the Albertsons chain for $370 million, potentially preserving more than 10,750 jobs.
A&P asked for the auction, the Wall Street Journal reports, in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court last week, in accordance with U.S. District Court Judge Robert Drain’s approval of “discrete” sales procedures for stores that weren’t part of the original stores put up for sale when A&P filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July.
According to the report, A&P plans to hold an auction on October 8th for the stores in question if no other bidders come forward. Any other party that wins a bid in that auction, however, also has to pay Wakefern a breakup fee of $1.2 million in addition to the winning bid.
Wakefern Food Corp. is the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the U.S., according to its website, and is the parent company of a number of banners, including ShopRite, PriceRite, and The Fresh Grocer.
