Food Lion bids for BI-LO stores
Delhaize Group, the Belgian parent company of Food Lion, announced last week that it has entered into a nonbinding Letter of Intent with BI-LO, LLC, to purchase a substantial majority of BI-LO's assets for a price of $425 million.
On March 23, BI-LO and some of its affiliates filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court in South Carolina. The announcement of the purchase by Delhaize Group was made in context of bankruptcy proceedings, and the non-binding offer is subject to Bankruptcy Court approval. Delhaize has said it will integrate the BI-LO stores into its Food Lion chain if the deal is approved.
The BI-LO chain operates 214 stores in South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia and employs approximately 15,500 workers. Food Lion has more than 1,300 stores in 11 states with 74,000 employees.
