Cerberus Buys Safeway and Mayor Ed Lee dies in San Francisco

Connecting Cerberus to Safeway to KKR to Bennett v. Southern with the link former SP Executive Steve Burd

The Dubious Phone Call and Time Wasting Project

The folks at TPG will have to answer to my Whistleblower Complaints on the truly odd collection of RFPs emanating from companies connected to Richard Blum, William McGlashan, CBRE, Regency Centers, Trammel Crow, Lennar, Catellus.

---

My story is about witness murders, private equity, mergers and acquisitions linked back to the Matter of Bennett v. Southern Pacific lost in 1989.  Pete Bennett owner of Mainframe Designs Cabinets And Fixtures was key fabricator of Safeway Store Development where Safeway contacted Bennett 1982.

After Bennett sued Southern Pacific in 1987 millions in contracts with Safeway were cancelled.  Bennett was unaware that CEO Steve Burd was former Southern Pacific Executive.

 

Cerberus Buys Safeway, Merges It With Albertsons For Over $9 Billion

Brian Solomon

Forbes Staff

After a long courtship, private equity giant Cerberus Capital Management agreed to buy Safeway SWY +0% for over $9 billion on Thursday afternoon.

Safeway, the 2nd-largest grocer in the US, will merge with Albertson's, the 5th-largest grocer, which Cerberus bought from SuperValu last year. The deal will give Safeway shareholders an estimated $40 per share, including $32.50 in cash.

The deal making may not be over soon, though. Kroger KR +1.38%, the country's largest grocer (nearly twice as large as Safeway by revenue), is reportedly considering making its own offer for its competitor. The company previous outbid Cerberus for the Harris Teeter chain of supermarkets, paying $2.4 billion last summer.

"Safeway has been focused on better meeting shoppers' diverse needs through local, relevant assortment, an improved price/value proposition and a great shopping experience that has driven improved sales trends," Safeway CEO Robert Edwards said in a statement. " We are excited about continuing this momentum as a combined organization."

"This transaction offers us the opportunity to better serve customers by adapting more quickly to evolving shopping preferences in diverse regions across the country," Albertsons CEO Bob Miller said. "Together, we will be able to respond to local needs more quickly and deliver outstanding products at the lowest possible price, more efficiently than ever before."

Safeway has more than 1,300 stores in the US. It ended the day trading at $39.47, but the stock fell over 3.5% after hours.

Follow Brian on Facebook and Twitter.

Brian Solomon

Forbes Staff

Brian Solomon was a Forbes staff writer from 2011 to 2017. He most recently covered technology startups, with a special focus on the on-demand economy of Uber, Airbnb, ...