KKR to Sell 25 Million Safeway Shares

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. affiliates plan to sell 25 million common shares of Safeway Inc., the supermarket and drugstore operator. Selling Safeway shares was one of KKR’s most profitable activities last year. The New York-based buyout firm sold most of its Safeway stake--acquired in 1986 at an original cost basis of 50 cents a share, according to a KKR annual review--for between $43 and $58.25 a share. Pleasanton-based Safeway’s shares fell $1.31 to close at $41.56 in New York Stock Exchange trading. The shares nonetheless have gained 32% over the last six months. The current share price would bring the KKR group, which includes Henry R. Kravis and George R. Roberts, more than $1 billion before expenses from the stock sale.