The Winn-Dixie grocery chain is no longer owned by German grocery Aldi.
Winn-Dixie parent Southeastern Grocers Inc., which was acquired by Aldi in March 2024, announced Feb. 7 that a consortium of private investors acquired the company.
The release said the deal was spearheaded by the Southeastern Grocers CEO and President Anthony Hucker and C&S Wholesale Grocers, a long-time supplier for the company.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Aldi is a privately held company.
The consortium said it will immediately assume day-to-day operation of Winn-Dixie grocery and liquor stores and Harveys Supermarkets.
The deal includes about 170 grocery stores in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, as well as the existing Winn-Dixie liquor store business.
Aldi intends to complete its previously stated conversion plans with a total of about 220 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores. That process is expected to conclude in 2027.
Hucker will be the chair, CEO and president of Southeastern Grocers.
“We are profoundly grateful and deeply honored to continue serving the communities we cherish,” Hucker said in a news release.
“Throughout this transformational journey, our commitment to thoughtful, purpose-driven growth remains strong and propels us forward with renewed momentum.
“As we reinvest in the store fleet, we are inspired by listening loudly to the voices of our customers, to elevate and revolutionize our customer experience and store offerings, so that each step we take will reflect our dedication to our people and our communities.”
C&S Wholesale Grocers is a grocery supply company serving 7,500 independent supermarkets, chain stores, military bases and institutions with more than 100,000 different products.
“This consortium continues C&S and SEG’s longstanding partnership,”C&S CEO Eric Winn said in the release.
“C&S will leverage our best-in-class capabilities to provide value and quality to shoppers as we continue advancing our legacy of braggingly happy customers.”
The release said Aldi and Southeastern Grocers will “continue to work together closely to ensure a smooth transition, with dedicated leaders overseeing the store conversion and hiring process.”
Southeastern Grocers will continue to operate the remaining stores identified for conversion to Aldi until they are closed for conversion.
RBC Capital Markets LLC served as financial adviser to the consortium. Foley & Lardner LLP and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP served as legal counsel.
For more information about the deal, visit segrocers.com/updates.
Southeastern Grocers is headquartered in Prominence Office Park in Baymeadows.
Winn-Dixie traces its roots back to the 1920s when the Davis family opened a store in Miami and began expanding with other stores.
The company established its headquarters in Jacksonville in 1944 and after a series of transactions, the company was named Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. in 1955.
Winn-Dixie struggled in the early 2000s and went through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2005 and 2006.
After emerging from bankruptcy, Winn-Dixie merged with Bi-Lo Holdings in 2012 to form Southeastern Grocers.
Southeastern went through a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2018, with a group of investment funds taking control of the company.
The company filed plans for an initial public offering in 2020 but pulled the IPO off the market in January 2021, and it had been the subject of buyout rumors since then, before announcing the acquisition agreement with Aldi in August 2023.
With both companies being privately owned, terms of the merger were not announced.