Food Lion, a division of Ahold Delhaize USA (ADUSA), announced on June 3 that it has reached agreement with Southeastern Grocers (SEG) to purchase 62 Bi-Lo/Harveys supermarkets (46 Bi-Los and 16 Harvey’s units) in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The stores will remain open as Bi-Lo and Harveys Supermarkets until the transaction is complete, which is expected to take place over a staggered period from January to April 2021, pending regulatory approval and customary closing requirements. The deal also includes Bi-Lo’s primary distribution center in Mauldin, SC which will supply the acquired stores. Food Lion said it hopes to hire approximately 4,650 associates when the acquisition is completed. Financial terms of the transaction were not released.
When the deal is completed, parent company SEG will operate 61 Bi-Lo units in Georgia, North Carolina and Florida and 30 Harveys Supermarkets in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.
“We are so excited to add these new locations to our more than 630 stores across Georgia and the Carolinas,” said Food Lion president Meg Ham. “We’ve been serving customers in these larger regions for almost 60 years. We’re thrilled to add these locations and serve even more towns and cities across these three states with fresh, quality products at affordable prices every day with the caring, friendly service customers expect from their local Food Lion.”
With the acquisition, Food Lion will operate nearly 1,100 stores from Pennsylvania to Florida which will employ more than 80,000 associates.
For Southeastern Grocers, which is led by former Giant Food president Anthony Hucker, the move allows the Jacksonville, FL-based retailer to place more focus on its five-year growth plan. SEG, which entered bankruptcy in March 2018 and emerged from its Chapter 11 status two months later, said it will now focus on its Winn-Dixie, Fresco y Más and remaining Harveys stores. It added that it is also actively exploring strategic options for the rest of Bi-Lo’s stores, including other potential transactions.
Separately, SEG is also divesting the assets of 57 of the in-store pharmacies it operates under the Bi-Lo and Harveys Supermarket banners to CVS and Walgreens. These locations, which include all of the retailer’s Bi-Lo pharmacies and nine Harveys Supermarket pharmacies in Georgia, will begin to transition within the next two weeks. During this process, SEG said it will seek to minimize any interruption to customers and to ensure the smooth transition of their prescriptions.
CEO Hucker stated: “The successful execution of our long-term transformation strategy may at times require difficult decisions. Today’s transactions are a critical strategic move and an important next step for our continued growth and broader evolution as a business. These actions will facilitate greater investment in our remaining footprint so we can continue to provide an exceptional shopping experience our customers can always count on.”
Southeastern Grocers also noted that these transactions build on previous announcements made by the company such as the opening of a new store earlier this year and the acquisition of eight new store locations from Lucky’s Market and Earth Fare – as part of its business transformation strategy to strengthen its overall performance in an increasingly competitive sector.