The Insider - Heard on the Street
It's been three weeks since I first broke the story in my January 5, 2011 column that talks were going on between Sprouts Farmers Market and Smart & Final regarding a possible acquisition of Smart & Final-owned Henry's Farmers Market by Sprouts. City of Commerce, California-based Smart & Final, and thus Henry's, is owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Arizona-based Sprouts Farmers Market is privately-held.
Since my January 5 column and follow-up columns, along with this news story - January 8, 2011: Smart & Final-Henry's Tell Employees About Deal Discussions With Sprouts Farmers Market; Confirming 'The Insider's' Reports - a couple other publications have followed our lead and written about the Sprouts/Henry's deal talks, including Supermarket News, which published a story on January 13, 2011 here. The January 8 story linked above offered a clear road map as to how other publications could easily check the deal talk reports published in Fresh & Easy Buzz.
The deal talks
No deal has yet been reached by the two parties. The talks continue though. And, based on information from my sources, I can tell you that both Sprouts and Apollo/Smart & Final want to make a deal that would result in an acquisition of Henry's Farmers Market by Sprouts Farmers Market. But as they say - the devil is in the details. Think details like valuations and financing, for example.
Regarding those details, sources tell me the two parties are very close to finding an agreement on them. Apollo/Smart & Final and Sprouts' ownership team have talked before about a possible acquisition of Henry's Farmers Market by Sprouts Farmers Market. But, my sources say, the representatives of both chains are currently closer to doing a deal than they've been in any of those past discussions.
One source tells me he thought a deal might be announced by the end of last week. It wasn't. But talks are continuing this week.
I'm not going to predict an outcome just yet. But based on what I've been hearing since late last week, don't be surprised if some sort of a deal is announced before this week is out.
I will be offering more on the deal talks before the week is out though. So stay tuned.
- 'The Insider'
[Editor's Note: 'The Insider' column appears regularly in Fresh & Easy Buzz. The opinions in the columns are those of 'The Insider,' and not necessarily shared by Fresh & Easy Buzz. Below are links to 'The Insider's' first column of 2011, and to a selection of 2010 columns, published in Fresh & Easy Buzz.]
The Sprouts and Henry's deal talks: Follow the story at the links below
January 5, 2011: 'The Insider' - Will 2011 See Sprouts Farmers Market Acquiring Henry's Farmers Market? 'The Insider' Says it Could Be in The Cards
January 7, 2011: 'The Insider' - Sprouts Farmers Market-Henry's Farmers Market Deal Negotiations Continue; End-Game Could Be Near
January 8, 2011: Smart & Final-Henry's Tell Employees About Deal Discussions With Sprouts Farmers Market; Confirming 'The Insider's' Reports
January 10, 2011: Sprouts Farmers Market to Open Second Northern California Store in Roseville No Later Than Mid-April
January 11, 2011: 'The Insider' - A 'New York State of Mind': 'The Insider' On Walmart, Apollo Global Management, Tesco's Fresh & Easy and the NRF in New York City
December 11, 2010: Smart & Final's Not So Marvelous SmartCo Foods' Misadventure in Denver
November 17, 2010: Smart & Final Pulls the Plug On All Five SmartCo Foods Stores in Metro Denver After Being Open Less Than Five Months
It's been three weeks since I first broke the story in my January 5, 2011 column that talks were going on between Sprouts Farmers Market and Smart & Final regarding a possible acquisition of Smart & Final-owned Henry's Farmers Market by Sprouts. City of Commerce, California-based Smart & Final, and thus Henry's, is owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Arizona-based Sprouts Farmers Market is privately-held.
Since my January 5 column and follow-up columns, along with this news story - January 8, 2011: Smart & Final-Henry's Tell Employees About Deal Discussions With Sprouts Farmers Market; Confirming 'The Insider's' Reports - a couple other publications have followed our lead and written about the Sprouts/Henry's deal talks, including Supermarket News, which published a story on January 13, 2011 here. The January 8 story linked above offered a clear road map as to how other publications could easily check the deal talk reports published in Fresh & Easy Buzz.
The deal talks
No deal has yet been reached by the two parties. The talks continue though. And, based on information from my sources, I can tell you that both Sprouts and Apollo/Smart & Final want to make a deal that would result in an acquisition of Henry's Farmers Market by Sprouts Farmers Market. But as they say - the devil is in the details. Think details like valuations and financing, for example.
Regarding those details, sources tell me the two parties are very close to finding an agreement on them. Apollo/Smart & Final and Sprouts' ownership team have talked before about a possible acquisition of Henry's Farmers Market by Sprouts Farmers Market. But, my sources say, the representatives of both chains are currently closer to doing a deal than they've been in any of those past discussions.
One source tells me he thought a deal might be announced by the end of last week. It wasn't. But talks are continuing this week.
I'm not going to predict an outcome just yet. But based on what I've been hearing since late last week, don't be surprised if some sort of a deal is announced before this week is out.
I will be offering more on the deal talks before the week is out though. So stay tuned.
- 'The Insider'
[Editor's Note: 'The Insider' column appears regularly in Fresh & Easy Buzz. The opinions in the columns are those of 'The Insider,' and not necessarily shared by Fresh & Easy Buzz. Below are links to 'The Insider's' first column of 2011, and to a selection of 2010 columns, published in Fresh & Easy Buzz.]
The Sprouts and Henry's deal talks: Follow the story at the links below
January 5, 2011: 'The Insider' - Will 2011 See Sprouts Farmers Market Acquiring Henry's Farmers Market? 'The Insider' Says it Could Be in The Cards
January 7, 2011: 'The Insider' - Sprouts Farmers Market-Henry's Farmers Market Deal Negotiations Continue; End-Game Could Be Near
January 8, 2011: Smart & Final-Henry's Tell Employees About Deal Discussions With Sprouts Farmers Market; Confirming 'The Insider's' Reports
January 10, 2011: Sprouts Farmers Market to Open Second Northern California Store in Roseville No Later Than Mid-April
January 11, 2011: 'The Insider' - A 'New York State of Mind': 'The Insider' On Walmart, Apollo Global Management, Tesco's Fresh & Easy and the NRF in New York City
December 11, 2010: Smart & Final's Not So Marvelous SmartCo Foods' Misadventure in Denver
November 17, 2010: Smart & Final Pulls the Plug On All Five SmartCo Foods Stores in Metro Denver After Being Open Less Than Five Months
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