Supervalu-Unified Grocers merger closer to becoming reality

Supervalu's $375 million acquisition of Unified Grocers has made it past the the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. The acquisition is currently expected to close in late June.

The merger, announced last month, is still subject to approval by Unified Grocers’ shareholders. The company has set June 22 for its shareholder meeting.

Supervalu expects to incur transition and integration costs of up to $60 million within the first two years following the completion of the transaction.

By the end of the third year of operations after the completion of the transaction, Supervalu expects the combined business will achieve at least $60 million in cost synergies, primarily derived from utilizing the scale and expertise of the combined company as well as consolidation of select back office functions.

The two companies operate 24 distribution centers supplying customers in 46 states and serve a combined customer base of over 3,000 stores, and in 2016 the organizations had combined sales of approximately $16 billion.