Dutch Supermarket Group Royal Ahold’s proposed sale of Tops
Markets LLC to Morgan Stanley Private Equity is set to close by the
end of the year.

A letter from Tops Markets and Ahold Financial Services sent to
The Era’s circulation department earlier this month announced that
the anticipated effective date of the sale is Dec. 2.

Spokespersons for both Ahold and Morgan Stanley Private Equity
said a specific closing date has not been set. Things are still on
track and no bumps in the road are anticipated as the necessary
paperwork is signed, said Denny Hopkins, a spokesperson for
Ahold.

“We don’t see any issues (with the pending sale), no cause for
alarm,” he said. “We want to get this done as quickly as
possible.”

Antitrust regulators approved Morgan Stanley Private Equity’s
purchase of the supermarket chain earlier this month, according to
the Federal Trade Commission. The Associated Press reported the
sale was included on an FTC list of transactions that completed
their antitrust reviews.

Ahold announced last month that it planned to sell Tops to
Morgan Stanley Private Equity for ,310 million. The equity company
is purchasing the entire Tops Chain, consisting of more than 70
stores operating under the names Tops Markets and Martin’s Super
Food. Ahold put the chain up for sale last fall.

The sale is not expected to interrupt service at stores,
including the Bradford and Olean, N.Y., locations, Ahold officials
have said. Stores will remain open and Morgan Stanley Private
Equity expect to retain all store associates, field staff, and
Williamsville, N.Y.-based corporate staff, according to officials
at Morgan Stanley Private Equity.

Tops’ current General Manager, Max Henderson, Jr., will resign
during the transition. He will be replaced by Frank Curci who ran
Tops until he resigned in 2003.

Tops’ finance, information technology and merchandising
functions are expected to be consolidated in the Buffalo, N.Y.,
area over time. Ahold, which purchased the company in 1991,
centralized these functions into Giant Carlisle in Carlisle in
2003.

Tops employs about 10,000 full and part-time employees in
Pennsylvania and New York state, including about 90 at the Bradford
location and about 130 in Olean.

Meanwhile, Ahold is looking for acquisitions in its operating
regions, according to a Reuters report. Analysts have pointed to
Belgian rival Delhaize as a good merger candidate.