Three Bidders Drop Out of Mega Tender

The last call for proposals for the purchase of the Mega chain has been postponed, in order to provide more time for bidders to file proposals. The tender was set to close Thursday, but late Wednesday it was decided to extend the deadline after three parties who had purchased tender papers had decided not to file a bid.

In a statement, the trustees said that “in order to provide an opportunity to those who seek to file bids to do so, we are extending the deadline through March 8.”

Five groups had paid the filing fees for documents that would allow them to bid on the assets of the Mega supermarket chain, but three of them – representatives of the Victory and Tuv Ta’am chains as well as a group represented by attorneys Yossi Segal and Eran Meital – had failed to file bids as of Wednesday night. The latter group is said to represent American supermarket chain Kroger.

The two bidders who have submitted bids are the Supersal group, and Rami Levy supermarkets, according to sources.

Up for bidding are 127 branches of Mega, as well as 13 branches of the company’s Zol B’Shefa chain, which serves chareidi communities. Also for sale is the Mega customer club, which consists of 1.5 million Israelis and includes detailed information on buying habits. The trustees have several plans for selling the chain, Channel Two reported, but still insist on selling all the assets as part of a single package.