BY BILL FREEHLING
Ukrop's Super Markets CEO Robert S. Ukrop sent a letter to employees of the Richmond-based grocery chain yesterday saying speculation about a possible sale is "based on rumors, anonymous blog postings and industry chatter."
A report this week in Jeffrey Metzger's Food World magazine says Ukrop's may be looking to sell its stores, which includes a location on State Route 3 in Spotsylvania County. Harris Teeter has been rumored as a buyer. The report, based on industry sources, states that Ukrop's issued a prospectus giving its data and seeking interest in a potential sale.
In the letter, Ukrop declined to comment on rumors. "If I responded to each one, I wouldn't have time to get much work done," he wrote. The letter noted that other companies have long been interested in buying the family-owned chain "so there's nothing new here."
He told employees that if anything changed, they would hear it firsthand from him.
Union Bankshares CEO G. William Beale said his management team has researched what a potential sale of Ukrop's would mean to the bank's deal to merge with First Market Bank.
Bowling Green-based Union Bankshares announced in March a deal to purchase First Market Bank for about $105 million in stock. The merger is expected to close this fall.
Beale said Ukrop's and the Ukrop family own about 60 percent of First Market Bank, which has branches inside many of the chain's 28 stores.
Beale said this week that he doesn't know anything about a possible Ukrop's sale, but he did say that his bank "considered the risk of a potential sale" when looking into the merger deal. He noted that about two-thirds of First Market's 37 branches are inside Ukrop's stores.
Beale said the bank leases inside the stores would be upheld even if the grocery chain were sold. Any potential acquirer of Ukrop's would not be buying any part of the bank.
Metzger's report says that Harris Teeter is the leading contender to buy the chain but also mentions Supervalu and Ahold as suitors. Supervalu is the parent company of Shoppers, and Ahold is the parent of Giant.
Harris Teeter has declined to comment. The company recently signed a lease for 43,560 square feet of yard space in the Interstate 95 Commerce Center in Spotsylvania. An agent with Thalhimer/Cushman & Wake-field Alliance said the company plans to use the space for truck parking.
Harris Teeter has also announced plans to build a 500,000-square-foot distribution warehouse in King George County's industrial park. The grocer signed an agreement with the county in January and was given three months to do a feasibility study. The company still hasn't closed on the property and recently got an extension.
Harris Teeter is a subsidiary of Charlotte, N.C.-based Ruddick Corp., a publicly traded holding company. The grocer has been creeping closer to Fredericksburg from Washington of late: It opened a 52,334-square-foot store in Warrenton's Northrock Shopping Center last month.
Bill Freehling: 540/374-5405
Email: bfreehling@freelancestar.com