Save Mart to Double Size With California Albertsons Deal

MODESTO, Calif. - Save Mart Supermarkets here will more than double its store count once the deal is finalized for the 124-store operator to acquire all 132 Albertsons stores in Northern California and Northern Nevada. While other operators made bids on handfuls of those stores, Albertsons LLC said Save Mart made an unsolicited bid for the entire division for an undisclosed amount of stock . Save Mart officials could not be reached for comment yesterday, and it was not clear exactly how the deal was structured and whether Save Mart plans to operate all of the locations it will acquire. Save Mart, which is privately owned, operates stores in Northern and Central California. In addition to the 132 Albertsons stores it is buying, it is also acquiring distribution centers in Vacaville and Roseville, Calif., and division offices in Dublin, Calif. Albertsons LLC is owned by Cerberus Capital Management, New York, and Kimco Realty Corp., New Hyde Park, N.Y., which acquired parts of the original Albertsons chain last June. Once the deal with Save Mart is completed, Albertsons LLC will operate 391 stores in the Southwest, the Rocky Mountain region, the Dallas-Fort Worth and Louisiana markets and Florida, with an additional 90 stores closed and for sale across those markets. Albertsons LLC reached an agreement in October to sell 46 locations in California, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Colorado and Oklahoma to Ross Stores, Pleasanton, Calif. -- a deal that has not yet been finalized. Elliot Zwiebach