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NEW YORK / AP
The Fresh Market, a grocery store chain, has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Apollo for more than $1.3 billion.
The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, comes after Fresh Market said in October that it was seeking to possibly sell itself.
Apollo said that it is paying $28.50 for each share of Fresh Market, a 24 percent premium of the stock’s closing price of $22.98 on Friday.
Fresh Market, based in Greensboro, North Carolina, has nearly 190 stores around the country. Apollo’s holdings include Twinkie maker Hostess and the Chuck E. Cheese restaurants. Apollo is based in New York.
Shares of The Fresh Market Inc. soared $5.47, or almost 24 percent, to $28.45 in midday trading Monday while Apollo Global Management LLC Class A shares edged up 6 cents to $16.97.
After increasing the price of its initial public offering from $18–20 to $22, Fresh Market raised $290 million, and on November 5, 2010, began trading on Nasdaq using the symbol TFM.
Apollo is an American private equity firm, founded in 1990 by former Drexel Burnham Lambert banker Leon Black. The firm specialises in leveraged buyout transactions and purchases of distressed securities involving corporate restructuring, special situations, and industry consolidations.
Apollo is headquartered in New York City, and also has offices in Purchase, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, London, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Singapore, Hong Kong and Mumbai.
As of August 2015, Apollo managed over US$162 billion of investor
commitments.