Cerberus Capital Management L.P. is concluding a deal to purchase parts of Supervalu Inc. (NYSE:SVU), according to a Wall Street Journal Report. The deal is likely to be a complex one, according to sources close to the matter. The deal, rather than being a total purchase of the company, will involve Cerberus acquiring parts of Supervalu Inc. (NYSE:SVU) and taking stock in the rest of it.
The source asserted that the deal could be agreed upon and announced early next week, but warned that there was no guarantee that the deal would arrive that early. The source warned that the terms had not been finalized and the deal could, in fact, fall through. The amount of money involved in any final deal has not yet been released.
Supervalue Inc. (NYSE:SVU) offers most to Cerberus Capital Management L.P. in its chain grocery store, Albertsons. The store has been of interest to Cerberus for some time now, and would be expected to be transferred to them, should a deal be agreed upon.
The deal involves Cerberus Capital and a group of retail firms that have joined it in offering to purchase parts of Supervalu Inc. (NYSE:SVU). According to the Wall Street Journal, the group had trouble getting credit to purchase the firm, and were asked to put up a large amount of assets as collateral.
Supervalu Inc. (NYSE:SVU), operating in a highly competitive environment that has not demonstrated great growth prospects in recent years, is seen as operating in a risky business. The market achievements of the firm provides full proof of this. The company has lost more than 63% of its value in the last twelve months.
Cerberus has a reputation of turning failing businesses around, and its investors will hope it can manage the same with Supervalu Inc. (NYSE:SVU), or at least the parts of the firm it manages to buy.
Supervalue Inc. (NYSE:SVU) shares increased by more than 13% today on news of the deal.
