US (FL): Bi-Lo completes Winn-Dixie buyout

Supermarket chain Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. said on Friday that its acquisition by Bi-Lo LLC has been completed, creating a huge grocery operator in the South.

Nearly 98 percent of the votes cast on Friday at a special meeting of Winn-Dixie shareholders were in favor of the transaction, the filing said.

The companies announced the agreement Dec. 19.

Each Winn-Dixie stockholder gets $9.50 per share in cash, a 75 percent premium to the Jacksonville, Fla., company's closing stock price on the day before the deal was announced. At that time, the deal was valued at $560 million.

Bi-Lo, based in Greenville, S.C., runs 207 supermarkets in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.

Winn-Dixie runs about 480 grocery stores, including about 380 in-store pharmacies, in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi. It has about 46,000 employees.

No store closings are expected as a result of the deal, and the name Winn-Dixie will remain because of its strong brand recognition in the South.

Source: www.cbsnews.com