Gelson's, Smart & Final look to buy 36 Haggen stores
Gelson's, Smart & Final look to buy 36 Haggen stores
Haggen, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 8, has filed motions to sell eight California stores to Gelson's Markets as well as 28 stores in California and Nevada to Smart & Final LLC.
Late in September Haggen announced plans to exit the Pacific Southwest market and realign its operations around 37 core stores and one standalone pharmacy in the Pacific Northwest as part of the Chapter 11 process. Haggen previously requested approval to begin going out of business sales in non-core locations and will exit operations during the last weeks of November.
If approved by the bankruptcy court, the asset purchase agreements with Gelson’s and Smart & Final would be stalking horse bidder packages. Of the 28 stores Smart & Final is looking to purchase 27 are in California, with Las Vegas as the one Nevada location.
Additionally, Haggen has filed motions with and is seeking the approval of the bankruptcy court to establish procedures for ongoing sales. The motions present global bidding procedures, stalking horse package bid procedures and a schedule of stores being sold.
Haggen is seeking a court hearing Oct. 19 to hear the company’s proposed global bid procedures. Parties interested in participating in the sale of stores need to submit an indication of interest by no later than Oct. 26. The procedures provide for a deadline for submission of bids to purchase some or all of the assets on 5 p.m. on Nov. 2, with an auction scheduled on Nov. 9.
The hearing to consider the results of the auction will be held on Nov. 24. In the event no auction is conducted for a stalking horse package or if one of the stalking horse bidders is the successful bidder for its package after the auction and the contracts identified in the original bid have not changed, a sale hearing for those stores will be held on Nov. 13 instead. All dates are tentative and subject to bankruptcy court approval.