Apollo-backed Smart & Final to Be Sold to Mexican Retail Giant

Mexican retailer Grupo Comercial Chedraui SA agreed to buy grocer Smart & Final Stores LLC for more than $600m, people familiar with the matter said, expanding its presence in a U.S. supermarket business that boomed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Private-equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc. is selling Smart & Final to Bodega Latina Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of Chedraui, the people said. New York-based Apollo took the retailer private roughly two years ago for more than $1bn, and sold its warehouse business to distributor US Foods Holding Corp. for $970m last year.

The deal comes as grocery sales have grown robustly over the past year. More people stayed home and cooked after restaurants and bars shut down during the pandemic. Sales growth for grocers has slowed in recent months from the onset of the pandemic last year, when shoppers stockpiled goods.

Other international buyers have made supermarket acquisitions in the U.S. recently. Japan-based Pan Pacific International Holdings Corp. agreed to buy Gelson’s Markets in California earlier this year, while Korea’s E-mart Inc. bought Good Food Holdings, the owner of Bristol Farms and New Seasons Market, in 2018.

For Bodega Latina, which owns the El Super and Fiesta Mart chains, the acquisition will boost its geographic footprint in the western U.S., including California and Arizona.

Source: Wall Street Journal