UPDATE 2-Hilco-Southern Family win Bruno's for $45.8 mln
* Hilco-Southern Family win auction with $45.8 mln bid
* Will keep up to 31 stores, close rest
* Sale approval hearing scheduled for May 4 (Adds court approval hearing date, Bruno's CRO comment)
By Phil Wahba and Emily Chasan
NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - Supermarket chain Southern Family Markets Acquisitions II LLC and liquidator Hilco Merchant Resources won a bankruptcy auction for Bruno's Supermarkets LLC with a joint bid worth $45.8 million, Hilco said on Thursday.
Southern Family Markets, owned by New Hampshire-based food distributor C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc, and Hilco bought Bruno's 56 remaining stores. Up to 31 of those will continue to be operated, while the rest will be liquidated, a Hilco spokesman said.
The sale is subject to court approval at a hearing scheduled for Monday at federal bankruptcy court in Birmingham, Alabama.
"I am pleased that we were able to come to an agreement with Southern Family that not only preserves jobs at our store locations, but also delivers more value to our creditors," said Bruno's Chief Restructuring Officer Jim Grady, in a statement.
Other bidders included Gordon Brothers Group and a joint venture made up of liquidators Great American Group, Tiger Capital, SB Capital and Hudson Capital Partners.
At the time of its bankruptcy filing in February, Bruno's said it had a total of 66 locations in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, and employed about 4,200 people. In March, it said it would close 10 stores.
Bruno's was founded in 1933 by Joe Bruno, who started the company's first grocery store in Birmingham, Alabama.
The company listed assets and liabilities in the range of $100 million to $500 million in its bankruptcy filing.
The case: In re Bruno's Supermarkets LLC, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Alabama, No 09-00634. (Editing by Tim Dobbyn & Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
