BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Bruno’s Supermarkets here on Tuesday sought permission from U.S. Bankruptcy Court to “sell all or substantially all of its assets” in an auction later this month.
The company in court papers said an “emergency sale” of the company — either as a going concern or to a liquidator — is in the best interest of its estate and creditors after it failed to attract a “stalking horse” bid. The proposed auction would be held April 29.
Bruno’s said Tuesday it “continues to negotiate with potential purchasers and remains open to the possibility that interested parties may submit stalking horse bids for some or all” of the company.
Parties in the meantime were still waiting for a judge’s ruling on a trial last week on whether Bruno’s could remove successor language from union contracts that it identified as a barrier to a sale. In post-trial brief filed this week, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1657, which represents workers at Bruno’s stores, said it had spoken with three potential buyers of blocks of Bruno’s stores, but only one of them insisted on rejecting the entire union contract.
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