MINNEAPOLIS — John Standley, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Rite Aid Corp., has been elected to the board of Supervalu Inc.
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John Standley |
Supervalu said late Friday that Standley and Mark Neporent, chief operating officer and general counsel at Cerberus Capital Management LP, are joining the supermarket retailer and wholesaler’s board as directors.
"I am very pleased that John and Mark have accepted positions on our board," Bob Miller, nonexecutive chairman at Supervalu, said in a statement. "It is important that we have a strong board of directors with a mix of industry, financial and professional experience to draw upon. John and Mark provide tremendous knowledge and a strong understanding of the guidance and direction this board should offer Supervalu during its rebuilding process."
Standley, who in the past few years has helped turn around Rite Aid’s business and shore up the drug chain’s finances, is a 20-year veteran of the drug store and supermarket retail sectors. He became Rite Aid’s president and COO in September 2008, was appointed to the Rite Aid board in 2009 and was named CEO in June 2010. He was elected chairman at Rite Aid in June 2012. He had previously served as Rite Aid’s chief financial officer, chief administrative officer and senior executive vice president from 1999 to 2005.
In addition, Standley was CEO and a board member at Pathmark Stores from 2005 to 2007 and worked with The Yucaipa Cos. from 1994 to 1999 in various senior leadership positions at several supermarket companies that were consolidated into Fred Meyer Inc.
Standley is currently vice chairman of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.
Neporent is a designee of Symphony Investors, a Cerberus affiliate, and has served as COO and general counsel of Cerberus since 1998.
Cerberus, a private investment firm, led an investor consortium that purchased five of Supervalu’s supermarket chains — including 877 stores and most of its pharmacies — in a $3.3 billion deal announced in January. The Cerberus affiliate acquiring the stores, AB Acquisition LLC, is the parent of Boise, Idaho-based Albertson’s LLC.
With the deal, Supervalu emerged as a much smaller company, with overall sales of around $17 billion, compared with $36 billion before, and about 1,500 stores in its retail base, compared with more than 2,400 previously. The sale also meant Supervalu divested most of its previously 797 in-store pharmacies.
The sell-off came after Supervalu had struggled financially in recent years, burdened by a heavy debt load as it scrambled to compete with Walmart and other mass merchants, warehouse clubs and bigger supermarket rivals, as well as other retail formats such as drug chains and dollar stores. Supervalu also has seen significant turnover in its management ranks.
Supervalu said Friday that the nine-person board resulting from the new appointments will have five members who are independent directors. In addition, the board will continue the search process for another independent director and, upon the selection and appointment of that director, Supervalu president and CEO Sam Duncan will be added, increasing the final size of the Supervalu board to 11 directors.
