Apollo Global Management LLC agreed to buy grocer The Fresh Market Inc. for about $1.4 billion in cash in the buyout firm’s third announced acquisition of more than $1 billion since the start of February.
Shareholders will receive $28.50 a share in a tender offer, the companies said in a statement Monday. The price is 24 per cent above Fresh Market’s closing level on Friday.
Fresh Market’s board conducted an "open and thorough review" of strategic alternatives before agreeing to the sale, according to the statement. Still, the Greensboro, North Carolina-based company can solicit better offers for 21 days after signing a definitive deal, the companies said.
Ray Berry, who founded the company in 1982, and Brett Berry won’t tender their shares and will roll over the "vast majority" of their stakes in the transaction with Apollo, according to the statement. They collectively own about 9.8 per cent of the stock.
Apollo agreed February 8 to buy Apollo Education Group Inc. for $1.1 billion, and on February 16 it it said it would acquire home-security monitoring company ADT Corp. for about $6.9 billion.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is advising Fresh Market, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and Richards, Layton & Finger P.A. are its legal advisers. Barclays, RBC Capital Markets LLC, Jefferies and Macquarie Capital are Apollo’s financial advisers. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP are legal advisers to Apollo and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is acting as legal adviser to Apollo as it relates to the debt financing.
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