Smart & Final Inc., which operates food warehouse stores, agreed Tuesday to a takeover by private equity firm Apollo Management LP for about $700 million.

Under the deal, the New York-based firm will buy Smart & Final for $22 per share in cash, representing a 15 percent premium to Friday’s closing price of $19.06.

Including debt, the deal is worth $812.9 million, the company said. Smart & Final shares jumped 13.4 percent ($2.56), to $21.62 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange — having hit a new 52-week high of $21.85 earlier in the session.

Apollo also entered into a $22-per-share stock purchase agreement with Paris-based Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA, which owns about 52 percent of Smart & Final’s stock.

Smart & Final’s board approved the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, pending shareholder clearance.

News of the sale enabled investors to shake off concerns over Smart & Final’s fourth quarter earnings report, which were released Tuesday as well and showed a 45 percent drop in net income because of higher costs that offset sales increases.

Fourth quarter net income fell to $5.1 million (16 cents per share), a 45.2 percent fall from $9.3 million (29 cents) for the same period a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting earnings of 18 cents per share.

The company said its results included costs of 1 cent per share, which came from the company seeking strategic alternatives.

Sales for the Los Angeles warehouse retailer rose 8 percent to $491.4 million thanks mainly to increased sales efforts, the company said.

For the year, net income fell 3 percent to $20.8 million, or 65 cents per share, from $21.4 million, or 66 cents per share in 2005. Revenue rose 5 percent to $2.1 billion from $2 billion in the prior year.