Cardenas Markets, Mi Pueblo Sold to Investors

Cardenas Markets and Mi Pueblo, two California-based chains that cater to the Hispanic market, have been purchased by New York-based KKR and Chicago-based Victory Park Capital, two investment firms.

“KKR and Victory Park will be making investments in both Cardenas Markets and Mi Pueblo, along with the ownership of both businesses, including the Cardenas family,” according to a statement from Cara Kleiman, a spokesperson for KKR.

Financial details were not disclosed, but the purchase should drive improvements for both employees and customers of the two supermarket chains, Kleiman added. The two chains will continue to operate separately for the time being.

However, according to a local news report, Craig Rosenblum, a partner with Barrington, Ill.-based retail consultancy Willard Bishop, noted that the market is saturated with markets catering to the Hispanic customer and the investment firms will need to “figure out how to differentiate Mi Pueblo and Cardenas in the marketplace so shoppers want to shop their stores.” Rosenblum added that the acquisition could have been a move to gain access to the stores’ locations.

Currently, Cardenas operates 33 stores in Southern California and the Las Vegas area, with about 3,000 employees. Mi Pueblo, with 19 locations, entered bankruptcy protection in 2013 and exited the next year after a $56 million investment from Victory Park Capital.

“We are very excited about our new partnership with KKR global investments,” Marco Robles, spokesman for Cardenas, said in the local news report. “This affords us a great opportunity to expand our reach in the grocery industry and into communities not presently served by Cardenas.”