Cerberus close to acquiring parts of Supervalu

NEW YORK — The breakup of Supervalu to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management could be announced as soon as Thursday when Supervalu shares third-quarter results with analysts, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal published Friday. 

Bloomberg also reported that a deal between Cerberus and Supervalu was imminent. According to that Bloomberg report, Cerberus would lead an investment of around $500 million in equity. 

Bloomberg in December reported that Cerberus and Supervalu were negotiating a deal in which Supervalu would sell its Albertsons and Save-A-Lot operations to Cerberus, and Cerberus would take a stake in the remainder in what will still be a public company. 

Supervalu's stock rose 13.5% to $2.94 on Friday, after WSJ reported a deal with Cerberus was close. The company's stock has been down more than 60% over the past 12 months.

Cerberus already has a stake in the Albertsons banner. In 2006, a Cerberus-led group acquired more than 650 underperforming Albertsons stores as part of a larger deal to dismantle that grocer. As part of that deal, Supervalu had acquired more than 1,100 Albertsons grocery stores. 

For the full Bloomberg story, click here. 

For the full WSJ story, click here.