<p>Fresh & Easy and its parent company Tesco won court approval of procedures for a November 19 auction with the lead bid from an affiliate of supermarket mogul Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> According to Bloomberg, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin J. Carey said he would approve guidelines that will govern the proposed sale at a hearing in Wilmington, Delaware. This sale would reportedly save about 4,000 employees’ jobs.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> In September, Fresh & Easy was set to sell the supermarket’s 200 stores to Yucaipa. Yucaipa would acquire at least 150 Fresh & Easy stores and the company’s Riverside food production and distribution center. The company operates 167 stores in the western U.S.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Under the proposed deal, a Tesco affiliate would lend the Yucaipa unit $120 million to help fund the acquisition, according to court papers. Tesco would get warrants to buy as much as 10% of the equity in the reorganized chain. Fresh & Easy would get 22.5% of the equity in the reorganized chain if the Yucaipa’s affiliate’s offer prevails.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> The Yucaipa buyer has also offered to take on some of Fresh & Easy’s liabilities, which are valued at about $130 million and may exceed $200 million, according to Bloomberg.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Fresh & Easy also said it owes $738 million to Cheshunt, England-based Tesco, the U.K.’s biggest retailer. The unit never made a profit and lost an average of $22 million a month in the 12 months ended in February. As of September 30, the supermarket chain sought bankruptcy protection of as much as $1 billion and assets of as much as $500 million in a court filing.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for more comments and opinions.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-24/tesco-s-fresh-easy-wins-approval-of-sale-procedures.html" target="_new"> Bloomberg </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
