Safeway, the second largest U.S. supermarket chain, said Wednesday it is in discussions about a potential sale of the company, although no agreement on a transaction has been reached nor are there any assurances that a deal will be completed, the company said. The Pleasanton, California-based company has divested some assets and continues to struggle to increase revenue. Reuters reported that Cerberus Capital Management LP is in talks to buy all or part of Safeway. It is not currently known if other companies are also in talks with Safeway.
Safeway has been simplifying its operations and recently sold its 72 Dominicks’ stores in the Chicago area after divesting its Canadian stores to Empire Co. While the chain has struggled to boost sales amid competition with big-box retailers and organic-food sales, it still has some locations in middle- to upper income areas, said Joe Feldman, an analyst at Telsey Advisory Group. “The quality of those stores is in pretty decent shape,” Feldman said in an interview with Bloomberg. “That’s where people might be interested in it.”
Safeway has about 1,335 stores in the United States. Kroger, based in Cincinnati, is the largest U.S. supermarket chain.
