No more bidders for Safeway as ‘go shop’ period expires

Pleasanton, Calif. – Safeway Inc. on Friday said that no other bidders have emerged during the 21-day “go-shop” period following the announcement of its agreement to be acquired by AB Acquisition, the parent of Albertsons.



Under the definitive merger agreement, Safeway and its representatives were permitted to solicit and engage in negotiations with respect to alternative acquisition proposals during the 21-day period that ended on March 27 (the "go-shop" period).



AB Acquisition is the owner of the Albertson’s and New Albertson’s supermarket chains, and in turn is owned by Cerberus Capital Management. AB Acquisition will acquire all outstanding shares of Safeway for $9.1 billion in the deal. The two companies will operate independently until the deal closes.



None of the parties contacted by Safeway during the “go-shop" period notified Safeway by the deadline that they would be interested in pursuing an alternative transaction under the merger agreement. Safeway is now subject to customary "no shop" provisions that limit its ability to solicit alternative acquisition proposals from third parties or to provide confidential information to third parties.