Seeking a Value for Value City

Retail Ventures Inc. (Columbus, Ohio) announced it has entered into an agreement with an unnamed third party to explore a possible sale of its Value City Department Stores subsidiary.

The 113-unit Value City chain operates in the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S. The non-binding agreement provides for an exclusivity period of 25 days and due diligence. The company emphasized “there are no guarantees in the indication that the transaction will happen or what possible terms would be if there is an acquisition.”

The agreement earlier this year, in which Value City would sub-lease or assign 24 of its locations to Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp. (Burlington, N.J.), would be unaffected by an acquisition.