Supervalu is having a sale — of all of its grocery stores.

The Eden Prairie-based company has been purchased by United Natural Foods of Providence, R.I., for $1.26 billion. The new owner is expected to sell off Supervalu’s retail outlets, including the Cub Foods chain in the Twin Cities.

United Natural announced Thursday it will pay $32.50 per share in cash, or a premium of 67 percent, for each share of Supervalu Inc. United will assume the debt that is owed by Supervalu, which brings the total of the deal to nearly $3 billion.

The purchase — and the impending sale of 114 various stores owned by Supervalu — is the latest shock in the metro area’s stormy retail-food climate.

In 2014, Rainbow Foods closed or sold 27 area stores in the metro area, triggering a wave of new competition.

Outside companies including Hy-Vee, Aldi, Whole Foods and Fresh Thyme surged into the market, and local companies including Lunds & Byerly’s began to add more stores. Target and Walmart radically expanded their grocery departments.

Supervalu was — and still is — the largest supermarket chain in the metro area. In 2016, it accounted for about 25 percent of the market, with 58 Cub Foods stores in the metro Twin Cities and 79 statewide.

But instead of capitalizing on the demise of Rainbow Foods, Supervalu developed problems of its own.

After peaking at $48.64 in 2007, the value of Supervalu stock plummeted more than 90 percent to $4.55 in 2016.

Last October, Supervalu faced pushback from stockholders.

Blackwells Capital, which is one of Supervalu’s 10 biggest shareholders, wanted the company to sell off dozens of stores, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“We have grown increasingly frustrated with the company’s share-price performance and the lack of clear steps Supervalu’s leadership has demonstrated,” wrote Blackwells managing partner Jason Aintabi.

Aintabi wanted Supervalu to add new blood to its board and management, including the appointment of a chief financial officer. Supervalu’s former chief operating officer and CFO, Bruce Besanko, left for the Kohl’s Corp. in 2017.

Supervalu recently reported that quarterly sales this year rose 35 percent, with wholesale sales up 49 percent.

In trading Thursday, Supervalu shares soared 65.4 percent to near the deal’s value, closing as $32.17. The stock had been down 22 percent in the past year.

United distributes products to more than 43,000 customer locations, including grocers and independent retailers. By acquiring Supervalu, it will become a large-scale grocery food wholesaler with a diverse customer base.

Supervalu owns 114 stores under three different names, and services 3,437 stores through its food distribution business. It has 23,000 employees and annual sales of about $14 billion.

Moody’s Investor Service, a bond credit-rating business, applauded the sale. Related Articles Staffers at MPR’s music stations The Current and Classical MPR vote to unionize

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“With extremely thin margins at Supervalu and organic growth opportunities hard to come by,” said Moody’s Vice President Mickey Chadha, “it makes sense to join forces with (United).”

He said out of United’s sales, about 35 percent are to stores specializing in natural and organic foods, including Whole Foods.

Bob Shaw contributed to this report.