Private equity firms Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. already made a preliminary offer to acquire the second largest foodservice distributorship in North America earlier this month.
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), which in 2001 sold Alliant to Ahold which merged it into U.S. Foodservice, is leading the takeover bid, which values the business at about $5 billion.
Sources close to Ahold were quoted as saying that other private equity firms seem to be interested in the distributorship but the Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. partnership is aggressively pursuing it.
Another potential bidder could be Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm, sources said.
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