LOS ANGELES—The strict timeline in the Haggen grocery acquisition presented the most significant challenge, according to the Sue Zabloudil, partner and real estate practice group leader in Akerman LLP's Los Angeles office, which helped represent Haggen in the transaction. Last week, GlobeSt.com reported that Haggen, a Pacific Northwest-based grocery chain, purchased 146 stores from the merger between Albertson's and Safeway. The lofty purchase brings Haggen's portfolio from 18 stores to 164 stores through the West Coast.

“In connection with the Albertson's/Safeway merger, they required FTC approval, and they had specific timeframes that they needed to meet in order to obtain that approval,” Zabloudil, tells GlobeSt.com. “So, we were governed by a timeline of which we had no control in order to meet their deadline. It was also a competitive process with other bidders, so it was critical for our team to get through the diligence in the most efficient manner possible, and to get the client all of the information that they needed in order to make a decision, be a head of the game and be competitive.”

According to Zabloudil, the number of stores Haggen wanted changed throughout the process. “As the FTC reviewed the transaction, more stores became available to us that really fit into our client's plans for development and expansion.” The team then would perform a rigorous due diligence on each store and take the results back to the client, which made a snap decision to beat out any competition. The result? Haggen purchased more stores than any other single buyer. 

“I think this entire transaction is really a testament to Akerman's real estate department, and really how we have the ability to bring people in to work as a team,” she says. “We have the fifth largest real estate practice in the country, and this just evidenced what our capabilities are on a national basis, because we were able to pull support from all of our offices across the country to help us.”

The deal will close early this year. In the meantime, the team will continue to review the closing documents and oversee the process through the end.