Supervalu Expands To West Coast With Acquisition Of Unified Grocers

Supervalu Inc. announced it is acquiring Unified Grocers, a California-based wholesale grocery distributor, for about $375 million. The deal will enable Supervalu to expand its business to the West Coast.

According to Chain Store Age, the deal, expected to close in mid-summer, joins two wholesale organizations that had combined sales of approximately $16 billion in 2016. The merged companies will now operate 24 distribution centers supplying customers in 46 states with a combined customer base of more than 3,000 stores. And the Minnesota-based Supervalu will now have a presence in Unified’s headquarters in Commerce, Calif., and throughout the West Coast.

“By acquiring the Unified business, including gaining a wealth of expertise and talent, we will become a stronger and more efficient organization,” said Mark Gross, president and CEO of Supervalu. “The transaction will enhance our ability to help our customers better compete in the evolving grocery industry. We’re also excited to serve Unified’s dynamic retailer base.”

The deal also provides Supervalu the opportunity to expand into multiple geographies, such as Unified’s Market Centre division, which provides specialty and ethnic products to independent customers.

“Unified’s members and customers operate some of the country’s most exciting and progressive Hispanic and multiple other ethnic formats, specialty, gourmet, natural/organic, price impact and traditional stores,” Gross said. “They complement our existing customer base, and we look forward to facilitating collaboration and innovation across such an impressive collection of creative merchants.”