Onex Corporation, the Toronto-based private equity firm that acquired discount grocer Save A Lot from Supervalu in 2016, has apparently shed its investment in the St. Louis area retailer. On April 3, Save A Lot announced that it has successfully completed a comprehensive recapitalization of its business and significant deleveraging of the company’s balance sheet.
Under the terms of the new agreement, which the company said was supported unanimously by all constituents, Save A Lot has completed debt-for-equity and debt-for-debt exchanges that eliminated approximately $500 million in debt and provided an infusion of $350 million in new capital from a combination of new and existing lenders to support the company’s operations and acceleration of its transformation plan.
While the news release did not mention Onex’s departure as primary owner, the Canadian firm’s website lists Save A Lot as a “past” investment. A company spokeswoman confirmed that Onex no longer owns Save A Lot. Save A Lot did not disclose who its new lenders are or any specifics of its transformation plan.
“With the completion of this recapitalization, we are moving forward with a substantially stronger financial foundation as we continue serving our customers and executing our transformation plan,” said Kenneth McGrath, CEO of Save A Lot. “Our ability to achieve this outcome through a fully consensual and out-of-court agreement is a significant achievement and reflects the confidence of our new owners and lenders in our business model and long-term growth prospects. We thank our vendors and retail partners for their trust and support throughout this process and we look forward to continuing to work closely with them into the future.”
McGrath continued, “As our nation is impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, I cannot say enough about the strength and resilience of our retail partners and our team members. These incredible people are on the front lines every day, and we thank them for their unwavering dedication to serving our customers and helping our communities manage through this unprecedented situation. We understand the critical role our company plays as our communities rely on us now more than ever to provide food and other essential, high quality products at low prices.”