OREANDA-NEWS. Delhaize Group and Ahold today announced that their United States subsidiaries have reached agreements with buyers to divest a total of 86 stores in a limited number of locations in which the companies' U.S. subsidiaries both operate. These divestments are being made in connection with the United States Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) pending review of the proposed merger between the two companies. The divested stores are being sold to well-established supermarket operators.

All of the purchase agreements are subject to FTC approval. The agreements are also subject to FTC clearance and formal completion of the Delhaize Group and Ahold merger, which the companies continue to expect before the end of July.

These store locations represent 4.1% of the Ahold and Delhaize Group companies' total combined U.S. store count and 3.2% of combined U.S. 2015 net sales.

"Selling stores is a difficult part of any merger process, given the impact on our associates, customers and communities in which we operate," said Frans Muller, President and Chief Executive Officer, Delhaize Group. "We believe we have made every effort to identify strong buyers for these locations, and we want to thank our loyal associates and customers who have shopped our stores and supported us for so many years. Upon the completion of the merger, we will continue to maintain our local Food Lion and Hannaford brands; however, our new company scale will enable us to accelerate our local market strategies to better serve our customers with nearly 2,000 stores along the East Coast in the United States."

The buyers of the 86 stores being divested are:

  • New Albertson's, Inc.(part of Albertsons Companies based in Idaho), purchasing 1 Giant Food store in Salisbury, Maryland;
  • Big Y (based in Massachusetts), purchasing 8 Hannaford stores in eastern Massachusetts;
  • Publix (based in Florida), purchasing 10 MARTIN'S stores in Richmond, Virginia;
  • Saubel's Markets (based in Pennsylvania), purchasing 1 Food Lion store in York, Pennsylvania
  • Supervalu (based in Minnesota), purchasing 22 Food Lion stores in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia;
  • Tops Markets (based in New York), purchasing 1 Stop & Shop store in Massachusetts as well as  3 Stop & Shop  stores and 2 Hannaford stores in New York; and
  • Weis Markets (based in Pennsylvania), purchasing 38 Food Lion stores in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

The divested stores are expected to be converted by the buyers to their new banners and re-opened as supermarkets after any remodeling planned by the buyers.

A full list of the locations being sold by both companies as part of this process is attached as an annex to this press release.

On June 24, 2015, Delhaize Group and Ahold announced their intention to merge. The shareholders' meetings of both companies approved the merger in March 2016. The Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) granted its conditional approval for the merger in March 2016.  FTC clearance is the remaining regulatory approval requirement for the Ahold and Delhaize Group merger.