Aldi to buy Winn-Dixie, Harveys supermarkets

You may be saying goodbye Winn-Dixie. Aldi has announced it plans to buy the iconic southern grocery store.

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Aldi will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Winn-Dixie’s parent company, Southeastern Grocers Inc., which also owns Harveys stores, The Associated Press reported.

The approximately 400 locations Aldi will acquire are mostly located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

WJAX reported that Aldi will operate the existing stores but “will also evaluate which locations to convert to the ALDI format.”

Those that aren’t converted will operate as Winn-Dixie or Harveys stores.

Southeastern Grocers Inc. plans to divest the Fresco y Más chain, which consists of 28 stores and four pharmacies, selling those locations to Fresco Retail Group, LLC, an investment group.

The deal between Aldi and Southeastern Grocers Inc. is expected to close in the first half of next year if approved by regulators, the AP reported.

Aldi is based in Germany with its U.S. headquarters in Batavia, Illinois, while Southeastern Grocers Inc. is based in Jacksonville.

This isn’t the first merger of grocery stores.

Kroger and Albertsons entered into an agreement to merge with the deal currently under review, the AP reported. It is expected to close next year if approved. However, the secretaries of states from seven states wrote to the Federal Trade Commission to not approve of the $24.6 billion deal because it would give the group about a quarter of the U.S. food retail market, Reuters reported.