Wednesday, December 12, 2001
Now operating 1,600 stores in the United States
Zaandam, The Netherlands, December 12, 2001 Ahold, the leading food retail and foodservice company, today announced the successful completion of its acquisition of Brunos Supermarkets, Inc., following the approval of the Federal Trade Commission last week. Brunos is a prominent food retailer in the Southeastern U.S. with sales of approximately USD 1.6 billion and 185 stores (of which 170 are supermarkets) operating under various banners in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Georgia. Ahold now operates six retail companies in the U.S. (Stop & Shop, Giant-Landover, Giant-Carlisle, Tops, BI-LO and Brunos) with combined annualized sales approaching USD 24 billion.
On November 30, 2001, Ahold also successfully completed the acquisition of Alliant Exchange, Inc., parent company of Alliant Foodservice, building its U.S. foodservice business to approximately USD 19 billion. Both Brunos and Alliant will be consolidated for financial reporting purposes, and will therefore contribute to Aholds sales and earnings for 2001 as well as full-year 2002.
Bill Grize, President and CEO of Ahold USA-Retail and Member of Aholds Corporate Executive Board, commenting on the Brunos deal, said We are very happy to have Brunos, a high quality operator with a prominent local brand, join Ahold USA. Consumers will benefit from enhanced product offerings and better value from the synergies, knowledge sharing and best practice exchange between Brunos and its new sister companies. This acquisition also strengthens our market position in the U.S., particularly in the Southern states, where our activities are currently limited. Were looking forward to working closely with Jim Demme, President and CEO, and his strong management team to integrate Brunos into the Ahold USA family.
Ahold in the United States and worldwide
Ahold currently owns a significant foodservice business in the U.S. and six supermarket companies. The popular store brands include Stop & Shop (MA), Giant Landover (MD), Tops (NY), Giant Carlisle (PA), BI-LO (SC) and Brunos (AL). Jointly they operate over 1,600 stores of which 1,220 are supermarkets. On an annual basis, sales from Aholds retail and foodservice activities in the United States will approach USD 43 billion. Worldwide, Ahold has estimated sales of over USD 60 billion in 28 countries. The company currently operates nearly 9,000 supermarkets, superstores, hypermarkets and other store formats in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Ahold is listed on the stock exchanges of Amsterdam (symbol AHLN), New York (NYSE symbol AHO) and Zurich.