A&P Bankruptcy News: New APA's Signed by Wakefern & Morton Williams

Today two Asset Purchase Agreements (APA) were signed and presented to the bankruptcy court for approval. One of the APA's is for 12 A&P stores being purchased by Wakefern. Two of the twelve stores, Pathmark's 649 and 653, are represented by us, Local 1500.   As you may know, Wakefern is a Co-Op, and as of right now the specific owner who made the bids has not been publicly identified. Wakefern's bids have been designated as Stalking Horse, just like Acme's & Stop & Shop's bids. A stalking horse offer, agreement, or bid is an attempt by a debtor to test the market in advance of an auction. The intent is to maximize the value of its assets as part of (or before) a court auction in case of bankruptcy. Morton Williams has also signed an APA on three Food Emporium stores in New York City. As of 12:30 this afternoon, A&P notified the court of its intention to the extend the deadline for bids yet again. The new deadline is now Monday, Sept. 28th at 5pm.  A&P attorneys claim this is due to the continued influx of new bids and new bidders on the stores that will be in the auction.  Based on the court documents we believe that the qualifying bids on all stores will be made public by Monday at 5 PM. Today's meeting with Key Food was canceled due to a last minute scheduling conflict, once it is rescheduled we will let you know.  For all archived Pathmark updates, vist: www.ufcw1500.org/pathmarkupdates Last Update: 9/25: Update on A&P Auction, Key Food & Stop & Shop.

—IMPORTANT A&P BANKRUPTCY DATES — Friday, September 11th The Bankruptcy Court will hear UFCW's objections to A&P’s KERP (corporate bonus plan). Monday, September 28th (tentative) Bid Deadline: All qualifying bids on the stores are due into the Bankruptcy Court. The Bankruptcy Court will announce what Tier I stores have agreements to be sold and what stores will be sold at the auction on 10/1 & 10/2. Thursday, October 1st and/or Friday, October 2nd The auction for the remaining unsold and or closed stores will be held (depending on number of stores, dates could extend). Friday, October 2nd (tentative) Bidders can file objections to the sale of stores in the Bankruptcy Court. The UFCW can also file objections to bids made on the stores. Friday, October 16th A hearing will be held regarding the objections to the sales filed to the Bankruptcy Court. At this stage, the UFCW will have a voice during the auction process to make recommendations on bidders. For instance, if two companies place a comparable bid on the same store and one is a union employer, while the other is non-union, the unionized store would have an advantage and they should likely win the bid. A hearing will be held on A&P's filing of a 1113(c). Bid winners will be formally announced. —UPCOMING UNION EVENTS — Resource Fairs: You may have read that we will be hosting workshops and resource fairs for members displaced by the A&P bankruptcy in our September Newspaper.  Our first Member Resource Fair will be on October 7th at our Union Hall (425 Merrick Ave. Westbury, NY) from 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM (you may come and leave at anytime). If you're interested in attending please RSVP here.  There will be two other fairs in our area, one in Suffolk County on October 15th at IBEW Local 25 in Hauppauge, RSVP here. There will also be a Fair in New York City.  The New York City date is still tentative, once it is confirmed we will let you know. In the meantime you can visit www.ufcwmemberresources.com for more information.