Ouch. That hurts. Wisconsin is losing another corporate headquarters.
In a seismic shift for the already hyper-competitive Milwaukee-area market, national grocery giant Kroger Co. plans to acquire Roundy’s Inc., the local operator of Pick ’n Save, Metro Market and, in Chicago, Mariano’s Fresh Market.
Milwaukee-based Roundy’s (NYSE: RNDY) announced the move in its quarterly earnings release early Wednesday. Cincinnati-based Kroger (NYSE: KR) is prepared to acquire the company for a purchase price of $3.60 per share in cash, in an $800 million deal that includes the assumption of $646 million Roundy’s debt. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year.
My question is when does the consolidation end?
Do not think this is healthy and why I am not on this repeal min. markup train others are. That law is only a speedbump but a speedbump nonethless to help smaller competitors and Wisconsin owned businesses.
Otherwise the end result is Kroger and Meijer fighting to buy out Sendiks in three years. That really won’t be good for the consumer nor the Wisconsin economy and higher paying management jobs.