Complex sentence: By the mid- 1990s, after merging with New York investment firm Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill and Co., the chain was debt-ridden, and its ill-advised 1997 acquisition of Delchamps didn't help the situation.
Split into simpler sentences: By the mid- 1990s, the New York investment firm Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill and Co., acquired the chain. The chain quickly became debt-ridden, and its ill-advised 1997 acquisition of Delchamps didn't help the situation.