JOLIET, IL – As Central Grocers looks to auction 19 Strack & Van Til locations, a Delaware bankruptcy court has given bidders through June 26 acquire.

As we recently reported, Jewel-Osco, also known as Jewel Food Stores and a subsidiary of Albertsons, was said to be bidding a total of $100 million for Strack & Van Til’s remaining 19 stores. The offer specifically was for $70 million for the stores and $30 million for the inventory on the shelves. According to NWI Times, Jewel will get a termination fee of $500,000 if it ends up getting outbid for the stores. The court is accepting bids through June 26 on:

• Strack & Van Til stores
• Central Grocers' 930,000-square-foot warehouse in Joliet
• Ultra Foods stores in Highland, Merrillville, and Kankakee, Illinois

An auction for all the above assets will be held in a New York City law firm on June 29. The auction was initially expected to begin on June 2, if the bankruptcy court had approved the procedures.

If no other bidder steps forward, NWI Times noted that a court order has the U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Delaware slated to approve the sale to Jewel on June 28. Should at least one other qualified bid be made, a hearing to approve the sale will be pushed to July 10 and an auction will be held.

When announcing its intentions, Jewel noted that it would likely rebrand the stores, but said it plans to keep most employees.

Anyone who wishes to formally protest a sale has until June 16 to file a sale objection with the court, while those interested in submitting a bid for the remaining Strack & Van Til stores can contact the debtors' advisers at Peter J. Solomon Co. Potential buyers can email Derek Pitts at [email protected], Scott Moses at [email protected], and Gregory Grambling at [email protected].

Central Grocers