Fleming Cos. completed the sale of 17 Food4Less locations to Save Mart Supermarkets, generating $82 million in cash proceeds to reduce debt

Food & Drink Weekly, Feb 24, 2003

Fleming Cos. completed the sale of 17 Food4Less locations to Save Mart Supermarkets, generating $82 million in cash proceeds to reduce debt. The sale comes amid financial woes at Fleming, which in early February agreed to end a contract with Kmart Corp., its biggest customer. Kmart, which filed for bankruptcy last year, provided more than 20% of Fleming's revenue, accounting for about $3.3 billion of Fleming's $15.5 billion in sales for 2002.

Fleming said the sale also reduces its capital-lease obligations by about $20 million. Fleming plans to sell another 11 Food4Less locations to Save Mart. The company expects to complete two of these sales this quarter, with the sale of the other nine stores subject to review by the Federal Trade Commission.