The Associated Press
Belgian international food retailer Delhaize Group is in talks to buy shops and inventory worth $425 million from South Carolina-based BI-LO, a grocery chain that entered bankruptcy proceedings earlier this year.
In a statement Monday, Delhaize Group said it was in non-binding talks to acquire “a substantial majority” of BI-LO’s assets. It said the assets to be acquired had revenue of over $2 billion last year.
Delhaize said it intends to integrate BI-LO’s shops into its Food Lion chain of shops. Salisbury-based Food Lion has more than 1,300 stores in 11 states with 74,000 employees.
Rick Anicetti, executive vice president of the Delhaize Group and president and CEO of Food Lion said, “We at Food Lion, LLC have great admiration for the associates and stores at BI-LO. We believe our markets and service philosophy are complementary and we look forward to continuing our discussions with BI-LO.”
Mauldin, S.C.-based BI-LO LLC is a privately held company that operates 214 supermarkets in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee and employs around 15,500 people. It filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in March.
Delhaize said the offer was subject to bankruptcy court approvals and that it hoped to complete a transaction after obtaining a non-appealable sale order from the court.