Jewel Stands to Cash in if SVT Deal Collapses

Chicago-area supermarket chain Jewel-Osco stands to receive a $500,000 “breakup fee” in the event it’s outbid for 19 Strack & Van Til store locations in Chicago and northwest Indiana being sold by the bankrupt Central Grocers.

Joliet, Ill.-based wholesale distributor Central Grocers, currently under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, agreed to the fee as part of the deal for Jewel-Osco to buy the Strack & Van Til stores as a stalking horse bidder, the Northwest Indiana Times reported.

Jewel-Osco, owned by Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons Cos., has offered $100 million for the remaining Strack & Van Til stores, including $30 million for inventory left on the shelves. A court-supervised auction opened June 2 and will run through June 21, the newspaper reported.

A bankruptcy court judge could approve by June 23 a deal to sell the Strack & Van Til stores.