Albertson’s Inc. is set to be sold to an investment group comprised of Cerberus Capital, Kimco Realty and grocer Supervalu for about $9.6 billion, or $26 a share, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

A deal could be announced after Albertson’s board meets this weekend, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. The deal would be the second-largest leveraged buyout in history, with an enterprise value of about $16 billion, when adding the company’s $6.4 billion in net debt, the newspaper said.

Rival bidders could still derail the process with a higher offer.

The Boise, Idaho, company is also still working out details with CVS Corp., which is in the lead to buy the company’s drug chain for up to $4 billion of the total purchase price.

A deal with the Cerberus group could lead to heavy layoffs and store closings, as the grocery empire with many locations in Southern California gets picked apart due to poor financial results and market power from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Reversing Albertson’s declining margins will require substantial investment, the Journal said.

Albertson’s put itself up for sale in September after it and other traditional grocers lost their hold on the U.S. grocery market to Wal-Mart at the beginning of the decade.