Royal Ahold, Zaandam, the Netherlands, has extended the period for its tender offer for shares of Stop & Shop Cos. to May 15. The offer previously had been scheduled to expire April 30. The extension was made to give the Federal Trade Commission more time to review Ahold's $2.9 billion acquisition of Stop & Shop, announced in late March. If FTC approval isn't received by May 15, Ahold will extend the deadline, the company reported. As of late last month, about 6% of all common shares outstanding of Stop & Shop common stock had been tendered in connection with the offer. Investment partnerships controlled by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., New York, Stop & Shop's majority shareholder, already agreed to tender its approximately 62% ownership interest in Stop & Shop to Ahold in the tender offer.
ew credit facility Smith's will obtain under the recapitalization.
Another investor lawsuit was filed late last month against Fleming Cos., Oklahoma City, in connection with the David's Supermarkets fraud and breach-of-contract case. In the new suit, California-based Gordon Charitable Remainder Trust and other plaintiffs, represented by the New York law firm Rabin & Garland, filed a class action in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma on behalf of purchasers of Fleming common stock between Nov. 15, 1993, and March 13, 1996. The action charges that Fleming failed to disclose the David's litigation and cost the plaintiffs financial damages. Last month Fleming posted a $230 million bond to appeal the David's verdict. Fleming and David's were ordered to resume mediation by the middle of this month.
Target Stores, Minneapolis, plans to open two Super Targets in July and another in October in Salt Lake City suburban areas. Averaging 175,000 square feet, the stores would bring Target's supercenter total to six, including the first two in Omaha, Neb., and a third in Lawrence, Kan. Six Super Targets are slated to open this year, company reports said. Grocery space in the Omaha and Lawrence stores is 40,000 to 45,000 square feet; the new stores' food space was not available.
Kroger Co., Cincinnati, completed 25 food store projects in the first quarter ended March 23, up from 15 in the year-ago quarter. Capital expenditures were $174 million, up from $94 million a year ago. Food store square footage gained 4.8% vs. the 1995 first-quarter level and is on target to achieve the planned 6% to 7% square footage increase for this year, Kroger reported.
Winn-Dixie Stores, Jacksonville, Fla., is providing customers with a "Prescription for Good Health" on its grocery bags and on brochures in its pharmacies. Informational phone numbers of 10 health groups are printed on the bags and in the brochures, which also contain health-care tips. The bags will be offered into July.
