BOISE, Idaho -- Supermarket retailer Albertsons Cos. Inc. has announced that it has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of shares of its common stock.
In the filing, it said it hoped to raise $100 million to repay existing debt, to pay fees and expenses related to the offering and for general corporate purposes.
Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons incorporated Albertsons Cos. Inc. in June for the purpose of reorganizing the structure of AB Acquisition to undertake the offering.
In March 2013, Albertsons acquired a group of stores owned by Supervalu for $100 million in cash plus the assumption of an estimated $3.1 billion in debt. The deal included 871 retail food stores under Jewel-Osco, Acme, Shaw’s Star Market and Albertsons banners and 10 distribution centers.
In December 2013, Albertsons acquired United Supermarkets for $362.1 million in cash, expanding its presence in North and West Texas, in a transaction that offered significant synergies and added a differentiated upscale store format, Market Street, to its portfolio. At the time, United operated 51 traditional, specialty and Hispanic retail food stores under its United Supermarkets, Market Street and Amigos banners, seven convenience stores and 26 fuel centers under its United Express banner and three distribution centers. United is located in 30 markets across North and West Texas.
In January 2015, the company completed its acquisition of Safeway by acquiring all of the outstanding shares of Safeway for $8.3 billion. At the time of the Safeway acquisition, Safeway operated 1,325 retail food stores under the banners Safeway, Vons, Tom Thumb, Pavilions, Randalls and Carrs located principally in California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Colorado, Arizona, Texas and the Mid-Atlantic region. In addition, at the time of the Safeway acquisition, Safeway had 353 fuel centers, 15 distribution centers and 19 manufacturing facilities.
As a condition to approving the Safeway acquisition, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) required the sale of 111 Albertsons stores and 57 Safeway stores. Haggen Food and Pharmacy purchased 146 stores in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington; Associated Wholesale Grocers purchased 12 stores in Texas; Associated Food Stores purchased eight stores in Montana and Wyoming; and SuperValu purchased two stores in Washington. The aggregate sales price of these stores was $327.5 million plus the book value of inventory.
The transfer of these stores to the respective buyers commenced following the closing of the Safeway acquisition and was completed in first-quarter fiscal 2015 in accordance with the asset purchase agreements.
Albertsons is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States. As of June 20, 2015, it operated 2,205 stores across 33 states under 18 banners, including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market and Carrs. It operates in 121 metropolitan statistical areas MSAs and is ranked No. 1 or No. 2 by market share in 68% of them. It has 1,698 pharmacies and 378 adjacent fuel centers.
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