Judge OKs Yucaipa's A&P Deal

JON SPRINGER

MONTVALE, N.J. -- The judge in A&P's federal bankruptcy case on Monday approved a plan for the company to seek to emerge from Chapter 11 early next year behind a $490 million going-private transaction headed by Yucaipa Cos. Creditors could vote on the plan next month.

Although a labor deal underpinning the transaction had not been reached after weekend negotiations, a spokesman for a local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers told SN Monday that unions would seek to present a confidential settlement proposal to the court.

"To be clear, no tentative agreement has been reached between the Unions and A&P," Pat Purcell, the spokesman for UFCW Local 1500, said.

In a disclosure statement filed by A&P Monday, the company said it would seek votes on its plan by Dec. 15 and was eying a Feb. 6 hearing to approve the emergence. It named 15 classes of creditors, saying that four groups would be paid in full, with others sharing a $40 million pool for unsecured creditors. The company had not filed its projected financial performance as of late Monday.