Reply With Quotehey i can repost!!!
Ahold reaches agreement on sale of Tops
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Ahold today announced it has reached an agreement on the sale of Tops Markets, LLC to Morgan Stanley Private Equity in a transaction valued at $310 million.
The final purchase price is subject to customary price adjustments. Closing of the transaction is expected in the fourth quarter of this year subject to the fulfillment of customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals and a financing condition. Capitalized lease obligations will remain with Tops although Ahold will retain contingent liability for the majority of these lease obligations.
The divestment of Tops is part of Ahold's strategic review announced in November 2006.
Tops operates stores in western New York, mid-state New York including the Rochester area, and northwestern Pennsylvania under the banners of Tops Markets and Martin's Super Food Stores. Tops currently employs approximately 10,000 full- and part-time associates.
hey i can repost!!!
Originally Posted by BlaCkROcKDan
and your point is????.........
no point...like your thread...
There real name is "Royal Ahold" Corporation. You must use there full name.
Riven37
_________
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent. Thomas Jefferson
first point...the correct word is "their"...not "there"....second point,i suggest you call the buffalo news and correct them...in "their" story this morning,at no time do they call the company "royal ahold".....here's the story....read it and get busy...
New owners mean changes at Tops
Management will return to Western New York
By Matt Glynn NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER
Updated: 10/13/07 8:46 AM
Tops Markets’ relationship with Ahold is headed for the checkout lane, 16 years after the Dutch retailer acquired the supermarket chain.
So how will Morgan Stanley Private Equity’s ownership differ from Ahold’s? The new owner hasn’t detailed its plans yet, but there will be obvious changes in how Tops is run once the $310 million deal is completed.
Tops will return to being a standalone supermarket chain. Local corporate jobs will be restored, and the new owner plans to invest in stores.
The deal also removes the uncertainty about who would emerge as the new owner, 11 months after Ahold announced Tops was for sale. But it raises further questions about how long its new owner will stick around before trying to cash out its investment by selling Tops once again.
Once the sale is finished, Tops will go back to being an individually run chain. In recent years, Ahold had made Tops a division of Giant of Carlisle, Pa., moving many of Tops’ corporate jobs, including the chief executive officer’s, to Carlisle. Critics of that approach faulted Ahold for trying to make too many of Tops’ local market decisions from out of town.
Arun Jain, a University at Buffalo marketing professor, said he is encouraged that the private equity firm will rely on current Tops management to run the operations. Had a competing chain bought the business, he said, it might have replaced the local team with industry people unfamiliar with the Buffalo Niagara market.
“The supermarket industry is very local,” Jain said. “You really have to have an understanding of the local market.”
Jain said he believes the new owner will give “full freedom to management to run the stores.”
Morgan Stanley Private Equity has also pledged to invest in the 71-store chain. Last year, Tops launched a twoyear investment program in Buffalo Niagara, but the second phase was put on hold when the sale process was announced. An executive with the new owner said specific plans for the stores will be shared once the deal is wrapped up.
One concern that surfaces whenever a private equity firm makes an acquisition is how long the owner intends to keep the company, and how it will treat the business during that time.
Bryan Roberts, global retail research manager for Planet Retail in London, said in an e-mail interview that the role of private equity in the retail sector has been a contentious issue, “as in many instances private equity investors have been accused of asset-stripping or extracting value from property holdings while not really improving the retail operations of acquired businesses.”
“Given that many private equity investors are looking to realize value on their investments within a three- to five-year window, many of them tend to reengineer real estate, strip out head office costs or attempt to revitalize their retail investments before selling them on,” he said.
Roberts predicted there would be “no shortage” of retailers in the Northeast who would be interested in acquiring all or part of Tops “a year or two down the road.” He said he would be surprised if Tops were operating either under its current form or under its new ownership by the end of 2010.
Kevin Coupe, who comments on the retail industry with his electronic newsletter, MorningNewsBeat.com, raised similar concerns about the new owner’s intentions.
“The question is, will Morgan Stanley confuse efficiency for effectiveness and make cuts that will render Tops even less able to compete effectively?” he wrote in Friday’s edition. “Because if Morgan Stanley is looking to flip the chain and sell it in a couple of years — that’s often the way it works — the folks who work for Tops are going to be spending a lot of time waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
Gary Matthews, managing director and operating partner with Morgan Stanley Private Equity, said this week his firm had a “nice long-term horizon” with Tops, with a goal of building on its customer loyalty and current employee base. “We’re delighted to be the new owners of Tops and delighted to be part of this community,” he said.
UB’s Jain said he believes Morgan Stanley Private Equity has a powerful incentive to ensure the chain performs well. “They want to make money and the chain will be worth nothing if it doesn’t increase its profitability and market share,” he said.
While Morgan Stanley Private Equity is a newcomer to Buffalo and the supermarket industry, it is receiving guidance from someone who knows the region and Tops quite well: Frank Curci, Tops’ chief executive officer from 2000 to 2003. Curci was not made available for an interview, but Morgan Stanley Private Equity said he will lead a transition team and is expected to serve on Tops’ board of directors.
Curci would seem to be the prime candidate to become Tops’ next CEO, but the owner has not yet made an announcement about the job. Max Henderson, Tops’ No. 1 locally based executive, is leaving.
Just two years ago, a different private equity firm played a key role in the acquisition the Wilson Farms convenience store chain, which at the time was part of Tops. Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co., based in New York City, was part of an acquisition team that included former Tops Markets executives serving in top management roles.
If you are going to correct people, please use proper grammar.
It should be "their full name."
Their is the possessive form of they.
There is a demonstrative.
I'm just here to make people laugh. And to confuse people. Oh, and to irritate people.
Edit: Okay, so "there" may not function as a true demonstrative but it is more of a pronoun, not to indicate possession... Ack. Anyways...If you are going to correct people, please use proper grammar.
It should be "their full name."
Their is the possessive form of they.
There is a demonstrative.
In regard to Tops, hopefully the quality of the stores will improve under new ownership... Quite often lately we have bought items from Tops that were either already expired or too close to their expiration date.
Also, there seems to be an air of strangeness in their stores lately. (Hey! That sentence used both "there" and "their!" Yelp.)
I'm just here to make people laugh. And to confuse people. Oh, and to irritate people.
they're not as good as they used to be...there!!..i said it!!!
...And Poppa gets bonus points for using "they're," the contraction for "they are."
I'm just here to make people laugh. And to confuse people. Oh, and to irritate people.
Honestly, I don't remember them ever being good...
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions