AWG AWARDED $1.16 MILLION IN ACQUISITION DISPUTE

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Associated Wholesale Grocers here said last week it has been awarded $1.16 million in attorney fees following a failed lawsuit attempt by Affiliated Food Stores, a wholesale grocery cooperative that it had once hoped to acquire.

t 35 major customers, representing 21% of its sales base, to AWG and other wholesalers. It withdrew that action in 2002, after which AWG filed for a judgment to force Affiliated to reimburse it for legal fees -- a motion Judge James H. Payne of U.S. District Court for Northern Oklahoma approved earlier this month.

Affiliated spokesmen could not be reached for comment. "This judgment supports [the contention] that AFS' lawsuit was without merit," said Gary Phillips, AWG president and CEO.