It looks like Village Super Markets (ShopRite) will have some competition in its bid to acquire five Fairway Markets in Manhattan as well as the bankrupt retailer’s perishables distribution center (PDC) in the Bronx.
Bogopa Enterprises, Inc., which trades as Food Bazaar, has entered an “overqualified” bid of $75 million for those properties located in Harlem, the Upper West Side, the Upper East Side, Chelsea and Kips Bay as well as its PDC which opened in 2015. Additionally, Bogopa added Fairway’s unit in Pelham Manor, NY to its bid, temporarily topping Village’s successful “stalking horse” offer of $70 million for the five Manhattan locations and the PDC.
A court-authorized auction for those stores and Fairway’s remaining eight units will be held on March 16. Fairway CEO Abel Porter said that expects a “robust auction.” A follow-up hearing will then be held on March 26 for asset sale approval of all properties. The Manhattan-based merchant said it has also received competitive bids for “various other stores” that are being evaluated.
Bogopa’s (“the buyer”) filing to be considered as an “overqualified” bidder contained several stipulations including: its right to “remove the Pelham Store from its package and to reduce the purchase price if, at the auction, buyer is not the winning bidder for all the stores to be sold under its bid.” If Bogopa “removes the Pelham Store from its package, (a) buyer’s current price allocated to the Pelham Store will automatically be considered a qualified bid and (b) buyer will have the right to match any overbid received on the Pelham Store.”
Additionally unlike the Stalking Horse bidder (Village), Bogopa does not have the right to remove the PDC, the Harlem store or the Chelsea store in advance of the auction.
Here’s a financial breakout of Bogopa’s bid:
Broadway/Upper West Side (store 1001)
Lease – $28,924,140.60
Inventory, Prepaid Expenses and Cash – $1,890,000
Harlem (store 1002)
Lease – $100,686.60
Inventory, Prepaid Expenses and Cash – $1,560,000.00
- 86th St./Upper East Side (store 1008)
Lease – $28,887,421
Inventory, Prepaid Expenses and Cash – $1,400,000
550 2nd Ave/Kips Bay (store 1012)
Lease – $2,867,058.80
Inventory, Prepaid Expenses and Cash – $1,420,000
766 Avenue of the Americas/Chelsea (store 1013)
Lease – $60,317.20
Inventory, Prepaid Expenses and Cash – $920,000
Pelham Manor (store 1006)
Lease – $0
Inventory, Prepaid Expenses and Cash – $1,842,000
Bronx Perishables Distribution Center (store 9913)
Lease – $2,068,375.80
Inventory, Prepaid Expenses and Cash – $3,060,000
Bogopa is a family-owned business that has operated grocery stores in the New York area for 32 years, and currently operates 26 supermarkets under the Food Bazaar banner in New York City, New Jersey, Long Island, Connecticut and Westchester.
In February, it opened an 83,000 square foot Food Bazaar unit in the Bronx, making it the largest supermarket in that borough.
Fairway filed for bankruptcy for the second time in four years on January 23 after primary private equity firm owners, Brigade Capital (33.6 percent equity); Goldman Sachs Specialty Situations Group (29.9 percent equity); and FS KKR Capital Corp. (22.1 percent equity), decided that they could not find a path to continue operations.