Two Supervalu board members, both with Cerberus, resign in wake of Safeway/Albertsons deal

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu on Thursday announced that two of its directors, Mark Neporent and Lenard Tessler, have stepped down from the board of directors effective immediately. Neporent and Tessler were both appointed to the board in 2013 as designees of Symphony Investors, a Cerberus Capital Management L.P.-led investor consortium, under the terms of the Tender Offer 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 Tender Offer Agreement, Symphony Investors has the right to designate replacement directors for Neporent and Tessler.

Neporent is the COO and general counsel for Cerberus Capital Management. Tessler is the co-head of global private equity and senior managing director of Cerberus Capital Management. The two board members' resignations followed the 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. 

“In light of the transaction announced today, we felt it was in the best interests of Supervalu for us to resign our seats on the Supervalu board," Neporent said. "The directors who will be designated to replace Lenard and me under the Tender Offer Agreement are expected to be independent of both Cerberus and Supervalu and will add to Supervalu's outstanding board.”

Commenting on the change in the board, Supervalu's non-executive chairman Gerald Storch said, “I would like to thank Mark and Lenard for serving on Supervalu's board of directors and for their important contributions during the transition period following the banner sale. We look forward to working with Cerberus to identify two new, highly-qualified director designees to replace Mark and Lenard, and who will help to lead our organization into the future.”

Supervalu's board currently has nine members, including seven members who are independent directors under the New York Stock Exchange listing standards.