AUA Private Equity Partners, LLC (AUA), the hedge fund led by former Goya executive Andy Unanue, has sold its stake in Associated Supermarket Group LLC (ASG) to the retailer’s senior management headed by Joe Garcia, ASG’s chief executive, and Zulema Wiscovitch, the merchant’s executive VP and chief administrative officer (CAO).
Freedom 3 Capital and other investors provided financing for the deal.
ASG, based in Port Washington, NY, provides retail solutions to approximately 230 independently owned grocery stores in the New York Tri-State Area and other cities along the U.S. eastern seaboard, providing distribution, marketing, merchandising, promotional services, and store financing. Under the new structure, Garcia and Wiscovitch will share responsibilities as co-president and co-CEO.
Garcia, who has spent more than 40 years in the grocery business, first joined ASG in 2013 as executive VP. In January 2018, he was named chief executive. Garcia is well-known around the Metro NY area from his 17 years as an executive at White Rose, the former Carteret, NJ wholesaler that declared bankruptcy in 2014 and whose assets were subsequently sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers, which remains the primary grocery supplier to ASG’s stores.
Wiscovitch joined ASG in 2014 as executive VP and CAO. Prior to that she served as executive director of the National Supermarket Association (NSA), the trade association that represents independent supermarket owners in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
AUA originally purchased ASG in December 2012 and helped restructure the organization from a family-owned business to an institutional company providing supermarket retail solutions and services to independent grocery operators. Under AUA’s ownership, ASG acquired four prominent New York supermarket banners (Associated, Compare, Met Foods and Pioneer), expanded its store footprint into contiguous geographies, built institutional systems and processes and recruited a new management team.
According to a spokesman, negotiations between the two parties began shortly after Garcia was promoted to CEO in 2018. No price was given for the transaction. Our research indicates that annual sales for ASG’s stores are approximately $1.7 billion.
Andy Unanue, managing partner of AUA Private Equity and chairman of ASG, stated: “I am very proud of how AUA Private Equity strengthened the value proposition of ASG during our ownership and delivered long-lasting benefits for independent grocers that operate stores in multicultural communities.”
Steven Flyer, partner of AUA Private Equity, commented: “Our investment in ASG reflects AUA Private Equity’s ongoing strategy of investing in family-owned companies where we can institutionalize a privately-held business, expand the company’s service offerings, and accelerate growth. Our sale to the company’s management team is a very good outcome for our investors, our management team, and ASG’s customers, and positions ASG as a leading provider of retail solutions and distribution to independent retailers.”
Garcia added: “I have enjoyed our partnership with AUA and I am excited to begin the next chapter for ASG under management ownership. We look forward to continuing to serve our customers, expand our footprint to other areas, and offer a tremendous value that positions the supermarkets we service ahead of their competition.”
Wiscovitch stated, “We are thrilled to embark on this journey as we envision ASG’s future of continued growth with an emphasis on retail excellence, an outstanding value proposition and innovation for the benefit of our customers, and our mutual success in the marketplace. We have a phenomenal team of people who are laser-focused on accomplishing our goals and growth objectives.”
