<p>U.S. supermarket mergers and acquisitions have been ramping up over the past year hitting a record high over at least the past decade. So far this year, the volume of U.S. supermarket deals resides at $6.3 billion, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. This number is the most since 2006 and more than the previous six years combined. The data was attributed to Dealogic. There have been $15.3 billion in deals globally, surpassing every year since 2008, Dealogic noted. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Just this week, the U.S. saw two more supermarket deals announced as Yucaipa announced it would take over the Fresh & Easy chain and Albertson’s would acquire United Supermarkets.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Scott Moses, a managing director and head of food, drug and specialty retail investment banking at Sagent Advisors, told Wall Street's MoneyBeat that there are reasons to expect further deals, particularly with smaller regional players.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Among those reasons are the pressures of the consumer spending environment and the growing industry competition from larger formats like Walmart and even Amazon. “The scale benefits that regional operators get when they become part of a larger business helps them mitigate economic and competitive pressure,” Moses said. The managing director advised United Supermarkets on its sale this week to Albertson’s.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Albertson’s created quite a buzz with its $11.3 billion sale to a group of rivals and private-equity firms that split it up in 2006. Cerberus led the group that bought more than 650 underperforming stores, and Supervalu bought more than 1,100 other Albertsons stores.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">This year Cerberus' Albertsons faction bought 877 more stores from Supervalu for $3.3 billion. Now it is buying about 50 stores in Texas from United. Meanwhile Fresh & Easy is taking on Fresh & Easy. Tesco is paying Mr. Burkle approximately $235 million to take the chain. Kroger has also reached a deal recently to acquire Harris Teeter for $2.4 billion. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as the M&A market heats up.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/09/11/hot-in-the-market-the-supermarket-deal" target="_new"> Company Name </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
