Ron Burkle received court approval recently to allow his company, Yucaipa Cos., to take over about 150 Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market stores in California, Nevada and Arizona. Tesco, one of the largest and most successful grocery retailers in the world, could not make a profit with its first U.S. venture, and will now finance Yucaipa's purchase, in addition to paying Yucaipa to assume the chain's liabilities.
Former 7-Eleven CEO James Keyes negotiated the deal with Tesco and has been tapped to lead the effort to do what Tesco could not - squeeze profits out of the operation.
Analysts seem high on Yucaipa's chances, as the company has turned around grocery chains before. In addition, Fresh and Easy's natural food concept is similar to that of Wild Oats Markets, a chain that Ron Burkle invested in and was sold to Whole Foods. Not coincidentally, James Keyes is associated with the group that owns Wild Oats' intellectual property.
Showing posts with label Wild Oats Markets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wild Oats Markets. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Tesco's Fresh & Easy chain files for bankruptcy protection
After much speculation, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has filed for bankruptcy protection, just weeks after it was announced that Yucaipa Cos. would buy most of the chain's stores. The bankruptcy filing lists debts of more than $500 million and assets of $100 - $500 million.
According to Fresh & Easy, the move is "the next step in the restructuring process" and will have no impact on customers. According to reports, Tesco plans to back out of certain leases while in bankruptcy, and then auction off the company's remaining assets. Yucaipa would have the right to bid first for the chain in a court action later this year.
Tesco previously planned to pay Yucaipa $235 million to assume the supermarket chain's liabilities. As part of the agreement, Yucaipa would own and operate about 150 of the stores we well as a distribution facility, and close the remaining 50 stores. The deal included a loan of about $125 million from Tesco to help Yucaipa fund the operations.
There is still speculation by analysts that once Yucaipa owns the chain, it will relaunch the Wild Oats Markets brand, which has been closed since 2007. As reported in the LA Times, a trademark application filed by Wild Oats Marketing surfaced this summer with a Yucaipa office address.
According to Fresh & Easy, the move is "the next step in the restructuring process" and will have no impact on customers. According to reports, Tesco plans to back out of certain leases while in bankruptcy, and then auction off the company's remaining assets. Yucaipa would have the right to bid first for the chain in a court action later this year.
Tesco previously planned to pay Yucaipa $235 million to assume the supermarket chain's liabilities. As part of the agreement, Yucaipa would own and operate about 150 of the stores we well as a distribution facility, and close the remaining 50 stores. The deal included a loan of about $125 million from Tesco to help Yucaipa fund the operations.
There is still speculation by analysts that once Yucaipa owns the chain, it will relaunch the Wild Oats Markets brand, which has been closed since 2007. As reported in the LA Times, a trademark application filed by Wild Oats Marketing surfaced this summer with a Yucaipa office address.
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