C&S looks to become majority owner of The Winn-Dixie Company
C&S Wholesale Grocers announced a proposed transaction to become the majority owner of The Winn-Dixie Company, with the deal expected to close in 2027. The move builds on C&S's prior acquisition of Southeastern Grocers and its rebranding to The Winn-Dixie Company, and includes plans for continued store expansion and brand refresh.
Dive Brief:
- C&S Wholesale Grocers has proposed a transaction to become the majority owner of The Winn-Dixie Company, according to a Thursday announcement from the distributor. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in 2027, were not disclosed.
- Anthony Hucker, CEO of The Winn-Dixie Company, will continue to serve as a special advisor “over the coming months,” the release noted. Raymond Rhee, the company’s current CFO, will become Winn-Dixie’s CEO until the transaction closes.
- The proposed deal comes more than a year after C&S, along with a consortium of private investors led by Hucker, acquired Southeastern Grocers from Aldi. The group then rebranded Southeastern Grocers as The Winn-Dixie Company earlier this year.
Dive Insight:
C&S’s proposed deal underscores the distributor’s confidence in its ability to run grocery stores. The company said its combination with SpartanNash, which closed last fall and added dozens of stores to C&S’s stable, strengthened its ability to serve stores and compete in the increasingly competitive grocery marketplace.
“To continue to grow in the industry — not only today, but well into the future — there is even more opportunity within our retail footprint, especially in the Southeast,” C&S CEO Eric Winn said in a statement.
C&S said that, as a majority owner, it plans to continue opening Winn-Dixie stores, refreshing the grocer’s brand, adding private label products and remodeling locations to compete in the highly competitive Florida market. The announcement about the rebrand from Southeastern Grocers to The Winn-Dixie Company earlier this year highlighted a new visual identity, revamped stores and more.
Although its primary business is distribution, C&S has shown it’s willing to invest in the retail stores it owns. SpartanNash has updated numerous locations under banners like Family Fare and Martin’s Super Markets since its merger with C&S.
C&S’s plan to take over Winn-Dixie marks the latest step in a complex saga for both companies. C&S was selected to inherit hundreds of locations under the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger until that deal fell through. The distributor then pivoted to joining in on the acquisition of roughly 170 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores from Aldi — approximately a third of the stores the discounter agreed to buy in 2023 from Southeastern Grocers.
The Winn-Dixie Company announced earlier this year plans to sell 40 locations outside of Florida, leaving it with around 130 stores across Florida and Georgia once the transactions are completed. Those deals are expected to be finalized by the end of this year.
Winn said that owning The Winn-Dixie Company outright will allow C&S to build critical scale that will benefit both companies.
“As partners for more than 20 years, this will be a seamless integration that will enable us to leverage efficiencies and economies of scale to drive growth for our team members, customers, shoppers and communities,” he said in the announcement.