ShopKo Agrees to Offer

GREEN BAY, WI-The jousting for ShopKo Stores may be over. The retailer’s executives announced that they have accepted an offer from an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners to acquire the company for $29 per share, or about $876 million.

ShopKo officials terminated a $27-per-share agreement to be bought by private equity firm Goldner Hawn Johnson & Morrison that was submitted earlier this week. Goldner Hawn was the original bidder in the spring, but Sun Capital stepped in earlier this month with its own offer. Executives expect the latest version of the deal to close in December or January.

According to a company release, Goldner Hawn had also submitted a $29 bid, but ShopKo executives decided to go with Sun Capital based on “financial resources, experience in the retail industry, relationships with the key retailer vendors and other suppliers,” and other reasons.