PSS sold to San Fransico based McKesson for 2.1 billion

[tufsu1]

^ Bi-Lo bought Winn Dixie....and surprisingly, Jax. was able to get them to move their HQ to Jax (vs. Winn Dixie folks going up to SC)....state and local incentives that basically matched those offered by SC made it happen

[ben says]

^ Bi-Lo bought Winn Dixie....and surprisingly, Jax. was able to get them to move their HQ to Jax (vs. Winn Dixie folks going up to SC)....state and local incentives that basically matched those offered by SC made it happen

I love Jax as much as anyone else on the forum, but Greenville is an awesome urban space. I'm sure the employees didn't take moving lightly.

[Dog Walker]

A lot of the Bi-Lo headquarters folks didn't get the opportunity to move, but were laid off.  Mostly staff, I think, not management.

[Tacachale]

Which is what would have happened to the Winn-Dixie folks if they'd relocated to SC, and there were more of them.

[Captain Zissou]

Both Bi-lo and Winn Dixie are now owned by a private equity firm. The PE bought BL first in 2006 and then gave BL the money to purchase WD in 2011. The PE firm is based in Texas and they largely called the shots as far as the integration goes and determining where the headquarters would be and who would be the executive management team. The CEO was not affiliated with either chain prior to the merger. Since WD used to be a much bigger company before it entered bankruptcy, they had the infrastructure to support the combined organization. BL is as big as they have ever been, so tripling the size of their infrastructure and support center was not a feasible option for them. Certain departments still remain in Greenville, but the bulk of the jobs have been moved down to Jax.

[ben says]

Thanks Captain. Didn't know that.

[Captain Zissou]

And PSS will 100% have continuing operations in Jacksonville, but it is still very early in the process. PSS is being combined with McKesson Medical-surgical(Med-Surg) to form a new 4B company under the McKesson name.  The businesses are basically opposite eachother in terms of their areas of focus. The physician side of PSS makes up 1.5B of their company, with senior care making up the other 500M. McKesson has a 1.5B position in senior care, with 500M in physician services. Some of the upper level org structures have been set in place, but the integration process will take at least a year from the close date earlier this year. It is unclear what business units will remain in jax, but there will definitely be a presence here in some form for the near future.

[Ocklawaha]

Well with Arabiantainer Corporation coming to the Port, they couldn't have picked a better HQ and logistics center for the combined BL/WD companies.