Two SuperValu directors step down after Safeway deal

SuperValu (SVU) announced that two of its directors, Mark Neporent and Lenard Tessler, have stepped down from the board effective immediately. Neporent and Tessler were both appointed to the board in 2013 as designees of Symphony Investors, a Cerberus Capital Management-led investor consortium, under terms of an agreement entered into with Symphony Investors and Cerberus in connection with SuperValu’s sale of five banners to an affiliate of Symphony Investors. Symphony Investors owns approximately 20.9% of SuperValu's outstanding common stock. Under the terms of the agreement, Symphony Investors has the right to designate replacement directors for Neporent and Tessler. Neporent’s and Tessler’s resignations followed today’s announcement of a definitive agreement under which AB Acquisition, an entity controlled by a Cerberus-led investor group, will acquire all outstanding shares of food retailer Safeway (SWY). The directors who will be designated to replace Neporent and Tessler are expected to be independent of both Cerberus and SuperValu.