Spartan Stores Inc. (Nasdaq: SPTN), Grand Rapids, MI, has agreed to acquire national food distributor Nash Finch Company (Nasdaq: NAFC), Minneapolis, MN, in an all-stock deal valued at $1.3 billion.
The combined company will have pro forma annual sales of about $7.5 billion and operate in grocery wholesale, retail and military commissary and exchange channels.
Together, Spartan and Nash Finch will have 22 distribution centers covering 37 states and 177 retail stores.
Dennis Eidson, president and CEO of Spartan Stores, said: "This transformational transaction provides a unique opportunity to bring together Spartan Stores’ grocery distribution and retail operations in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio with Nash Finch’s leading position in grocery distribution to military commissaries and exchanges and its complementary wholesale grocery network throughout the U.S.”
Eidson will serve as president and CEO of the combined company. Alec Covington, president and CEO of Nash Finch, will remain in an advisory role for the transition.
Nash Finch’s military business will continue to be based in Norfolk, VA. Edward Brunot, president of Nash Finch’s military business, will continue to lead that business.
