Tops gets nod to buy rival Penn Traffic
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A bankruptcy judge in Delaware gave Tops Friendly Markets the go-ahead Monday to acquire Penn Traffic Co.’s 79 supermarkets in the Northeast.
Tops, a 76-store chain based in suburban Buffalo, said U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Peter Walsh approved its offer to pay Penn Traffic $85 million in cash and eliminate about $100 million in unsecured claims against the estate of the bankrupt Syracuse-based grocer.
The sale, expected to close by Friday, will deepen Tops’ roots in New York and Pennsylvania and extend its reach into Vermont and New Hampshire. The East Main Street, Norwich, P&C will come under Tops ownership.
“We are very pleased that the court has approved our comprehensive bid,” Frank Curci, Tops’ chief executive, said in a statement.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer hailed the deal as “the best possible outcome to ensure the vast majority” of Penn Traffic’s workers “stay employed at decent wages and that the vast majority of stores stay open.”
The buyout includes a $72 million claim for withdrawal liability from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represents all of Tops’ work force and about 85 percent of Penn Traffic’s.
Tops operates 72 stores in western and central New York and four in northwestern Pennsylvania. It employs more than 10,000 people.
Penn Traffic, which started as a Pennsylvania-based grocer in 1854, filed for bankruptcy in November. It operates 79 P&C, Quality Markets and BiLo stores in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and New Hampshire and employs nearly 5,800 people. It has 53 stores in New York and 23 in Pennsylvania.
Curci told The Associated Press earlier this month that some Penn Traffic stores could fold because “it’s not financially prudent to keep them open.” The fate of the Norwich store, which began as a Tops property, is unknown.
“There may be some that are too far away for us. But the majority will stay open,” he said, adding that Tops expects to keep “the majority, if not all,” of Penn Traffic’s workers.
Tops, a 76-store chain based in suburban Buffalo, said U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Peter Walsh approved its offer to pay Penn Traffic $85 million in cash and eliminate about $100 million in unsecured claims against the estate of the bankrupt Syracuse-based grocer.
The sale, expected to close by Friday, will deepen Tops’ roots in New York and Pennsylvania and extend its reach into Vermont and New Hampshire. The East Main Street, Norwich, P&C will come under Tops ownership.
“We are very pleased that the court has approved our comprehensive bid,” Frank Curci, Tops’ chief executive, said in a statement.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer hailed the deal as “the best possible outcome to ensure the vast majority” of Penn Traffic’s workers “stay employed at decent wages and that the vast majority of stores stay open.”
The buyout includes a $72 million claim for withdrawal liability from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represents all of Tops’ work force and about 85 percent of Penn Traffic’s.
Tops operates 72 stores in western and central New York and four in northwestern Pennsylvania. It employs more than 10,000 people.
Penn Traffic, which started as a Pennsylvania-based grocer in 1854, filed for bankruptcy in November. It operates 79 P&C, Quality Markets and BiLo stores in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and New Hampshire and employs nearly 5,800 people. It has 53 stores in New York and 23 in Pennsylvania.
Curci told The Associated Press earlier this month that some Penn Traffic stores could fold because “it’s not financially prudent to keep them open.” The fate of the Norwich store, which began as a Tops property, is unknown.
“There may be some that are too far away for us. But the majority will stay open,” he said, adding that Tops expects to keep “the majority, if not all,” of Penn Traffic’s workers.
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