For the private-equity giant Cerberus, which was co-founded by the billionaire Stephen Feinberg and oversees $60 billion in assets, getting into the grocery business was relatively easy. Getting out has proved much more difficult.For years, the grocery store industry had low growth yet was intensely competitive, with Walmart, Target, Costco and others increasingly elbowing their way into food shoppers’ carts. As grocery store chains struggled to compete against the big box behemoths, consolidation happened and private-equity firms moved in, sometimes with disastrous results.Corporate buyout specialists generally raise money from big investors, like pension funds for state employees, teachers, police officers and firefighters, and then buy undervalued or underappreci …
