Fleming to sell grocery stores

Bankrupt grocery distributor Fleming Cos. said Monday it would sell 31 Minnesota-based grocery stores to a small local chain for $42.5 million.

The transaction, subject to U.S. Bankruptcy Court approvals in hearings, will include $40 million in inventory at the stores, which operate under the Rainbow Foods name.

The buyer, Roundy’s Inc., will assume about $35 million in long-term capital leases and has agreed to hire all store associates in the chain.

If the bankruptcy court approves the sale, the transaction is expected to close in June.

Fleming was founded in Topeka and still employs about 150 people at a warehouse there. Former Kansas University Chancellor Archie Dykes recently was elected chairman of the board.

Merger: Diller to buy Lending Tree

Barry Diller is adding another piece to the online mosaic of USA Interactive on Monday with an agreement to purchase LendingTree Inc. for up to $734 million in stock.

The deal, which is expected to close by late summer, puts his company, which already controls the online travel services Expedia and Hotels.com, in the Web-based real estate loan business. USA Interactive also owns Ticketmaster and the Home Shopping Network.

Report: Airline service posts second best numbers

Despite snowstorms that hit the East and Midwest during the first three months of the year, airlines posted their second-best on-time performance since 1995, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported Monday.

Bureau spokesman David Smallen said the airlines were prompter than in any first quarter except 2002, the best year since the bureau began compiling the statistic nine years ago.

During the first three months of this year, 78.5 percent of flights arrived on time, 1.7 percent fewer than on-time arrivals during the corresponding period in 2002. Late departures rose less than 1 percent, to 15.5 percent.