Definitive Agreement Signed for Acquisition of Ailing Grand Union

WAYNE, NJ-C&S Wholesale Grocers, a privately-owned company based in Brattleboro, VT that has been one of the key suppliers to the struggling Grand Union supermarket chain, has signed a definitive agreement to buy the company based here. The buying price is estimated at a total of $301.8 million in cash.

But that doesn’t mean C&S will wind up with Grand Union. The auctioning of the company, which is in bankruptcy, is still slated for later this week, and a bankruptcy court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 20 to approve the winning bid. The C&S bid is expected to set the tone for the auctioning process, which could include such names as A&P and DiGiorgio Corp., a Carteret, NJ-based distribution company. If someone does outbid C&S, the latter will get a breakup fee amounting to 2.8% of its final bid. If that final bid is $301.8, the fee would total some $8.45 million.