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Is Haggen Private Equity Owned?
🟡 FORMERLY PE OWNED
Haggen
Includes Haggen Food & Pharmacy
Grocery · Bellingham, WA
PE Firm
Comvest Partners
Year Acquired
2011
“PE turned an 18-store grocer into a 164-store chain that collapsed in eight months”
What Happened
- •Comvest Partners acquired a majority stake in Haggen in 2011, backing its expansion from 18 stores to 164
- •When Albertsons and Safeway merged, Haggen used PE backing to buy 146 divested stores in a single deal
- •Comvest immediately did a sale-leaseback on the real estate, extracting roughly $300 million while saddling the operating company with massive rent obligations
- •Haggen sued Albertsons for $1 billion, claiming they were set up to fail with overpriced stores — settled for just $5.75 million, less than 1% of the claim
The Damage Done
- ▸Haggen filed Chapter 11 within eight months of expanding — called the fastest failure in modern supermarket history
- ▸Over 8,000 workers lost their jobs in California alone as stores closed in rapid succession
- ▸Communities that lost their Safeway or Albertsons found the replacement gone too, creating food deserts in some neighborhoods
- ▸Shoppers at converted stores immediately noticed prices $1,000/year higher than the Albertsons or Safeway they replaced — sticker shock drove customers away within weeks
Sources
- Haggen: What Went Wrong(2015-11)
- Private Equity Pillage: Grocery Stores and Workers at Risk(2015-12)
- Haggen bankruptcy: fastest failure in modern grocery history — OC Register(2015-09-10)
- Albertsons settles Haggen's $1 billion lawsuit for $5.75 million — Seattle Times(2016-01-28)
- Haggen reviews a mixed bag: shoppers not happy with prices — OC Register(2015-04-23)
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Haggen owned by private equity?
Not anymore. Haggen was formerly owned by Comvest Partners starting in 2011, but the firm has since exited. The effects of PE ownership often linger.
What happened to Haggen after the acquisition?
Haggen filed Chapter 11 within eight months of expanding — called the fastest failure in modern supermarket history Over 8,000 workers lost their jobs in California alone as stores closed in rapid succession
Who owns Haggen?
Haggen is owned by Comvest Partners, which acquired it in 2011.