Dive Summary:

• On Wednesday, Harris Teeter announced that two private equity firms had "expressed an interest in purchasing the company" and had retained J.P. Morgan as a financial advisor. 
• Analysts speculated as to whether the 211-store grocery chain would be bought by a private equity firm or a competitor such as Whole Foods, Wegmans and Ahold, which runs Giant and Stop & Shop.
• Harris Teeter's market capitalization was at $2 billion on Wednesday.

From the article:

"... Jeremy Diamond, a retail analyst based in Baltimore, said in the trade publication Progressive Grocer that he expects a competitor to buy Harris Teeter.

'The company has a solid store base, caters to a higher household income bracket in most of the neighborhoods where it operates, and would have multiple competitors interested in buying the company,'Diamond said. He said upscale grocers, including Whole Foods, Wegmans, and Ahold, which operates Giant and Stop & Shop, could buy all or part of Harris Teeter. ..."