GREENVILLE, SC – Bi-Lo LLC is buying the Winn-Dixie supermarket chain for $560 million, according to The Associated Press. The combined company will operate approximately 690 stores and employ 63,000 workers in eight states in the southern US.

As a result, Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. will become a privately held subsidiary and its ticker will be removed from the Nasdaq. No store closings are expected and the name Winn-Dixie will remain, the companies said.

Each stockholder of Winn-Dixie will receive $9.50 per share in cash, a 75 percent premium to the Jacksonville, Fla. company's Friday closing stock price.

Greenville, SC-based Bi-Lo operates 207 supermarkets in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. Winn-Dixie operates approximately 480 grocery stores in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi. It employs approximately 46,000 employees.