Clayton, Dubilier, KKR to buy Ahold unit-sources
(Adds background, details)
NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters) - Two private equity firms have agreed to buy the U.S. supply unit of Dutch food company Ahold NV (AHLN.AS), sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in a deal worth more than $6 billion.
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) [KKR.UL] won a competitive auction for the business, called U.S. Foodservice, that attracted several other buyout firms.
Ahold, CD&R and KKR all declined to comment.
New York-based CD&R sold Alliant, a business that is now part of U.S. Foodservice, to Ahold in 2001. Sources close to the deal have told Reuters that CD&R tried to buy back the unit several times in the last year.
Amsterdam-based Ahold, the world's fourth-biggest food retail and food service group by sales, is struggling to get back on track after a nearly 1 billion euro accounting scandal in 2003 that centered on U.S. Foodservice.
Analysts have said the unit has few synergies with Ahold's core retail activities of running grocery chains.
In November, Ahold bowed to pressure from shareholders, pushing to sell U.S. Foodservice and to slash debt and costs.
Bain Capital, Blackstone Group, and Wellspring Capital Management also bid for the unit, sources have told Reuters.
U.S. Foodservice, with 27,000 employees and 70 distribution centers throughout the United States, delivers food to retailers as large as McDonald's Corp. (MCD.N) and as small as neighborhood delis. The business is based in Columbia, Maryland.
(Additional reporting by Foo Yun Chee)
((Reporting by Michael Flaherty, editing by J.S. Benkoe; email michael.flaherty@reuters.com; +1 646-223-6152)) Keywords: USFOODSERVICE BUYOUT/
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