DALLAS — Fleming Cos., which filed for bankruptcy protection in April, confirmed Tuesday that it has agreed to sell its wholesale grocery distribution business to privately held C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. of Brattleboro, Vt., for an estimated $400 million.
A spokesman for the company said in late June that the sale to C&S was planned.
The sale is dependent on a number of conditions, including C&S obtaining financing and U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval. Fleming intends to file the asset purchase agreement with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
The company is "committed to identify a long-term solution," Pete Willmott, Fleming's interim president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement Tuesday. "We are pleased to have begun operating under the recently signed supply arrangement with C&S."
Fleming has filed a motion with the bankruptcy court asking that the sale process be approved at a July 17 hearing. The process allows for bids from other companies with a final sale hearing on Aug. 4, and a closing date shortly thereafter.
Fleming officials said Core-Mark, its convenience store distribution business, which operates as a separate entity, is not affected by this action.
Fleming said in May it would close its grocery wholesale division in Salt Lake City, putting 125 people out of work, as it shut down several poorly preforming wholesale divisions. Those closures affected about 800 people. The division's Salt Lake activities, operating at a 500,000-square-foot facility at 2455 W. 1500 South, served mostly independent supermarkets within about a 200-mile radius.
The company has a convenience distribution center at 3130 S. 1030 West.
Late last month, California-based Grocery Outlet acquired all 17 Yes!Less stores from Fleming. The stores are located in Texas and Louisiana. Grocery Outlet's acquisition has been approved by a bankruptcy judge.
Fleming is based in the Dallas suburb of Lewisville.