Retailers Scoop Up Ahold and Delhaize Stores Ahead of Merger

Royal Ahold and Delhaize Group have reached agreements to sell 86 stores across seven states in an effort to receive Federal Trade Commission approval of their proposed merger, which is expected to be completed by the end of the month.“Together, Ahold and Delhaize Group have been working hard to resolve the competition concerns raised by the FTC, and we are pleased to have found strong, well established buyers for the stores we are required to divest,” Ahold chief executive officer Dick Boer said in a media release.Publix will purchase 10 stores from Ahold banner Martin’s Food Markets in Virginia as part of its aggressive expansion into other markets. The Florida-based retailer already had two leases signed in the state prior to the divestiture. Other buyers include: •Weis Markets, Sunbury, PA, purchasing 38 Food Lion stores•Supervalu, Minneapolis, purchasing 22 Food Lion stores•Big Y, Springfield, MA, purchasing eight Hannaford stores•Tops Markets, Williamsville, NY, purchasing four Stop & Shop stores and two Hannaford stores•Saubel’s Markets, Shrewsbury, PA, purchasing one Food Lion store•Albertsons Cos., Boise, ID, purchasing one Giant-Landover store“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 U.S.,” said Delhaize ceo Frans Muller in a separate media release.Netherlands-based Royal Ahold and Belgium-based Delhaize Group in June 2015 announced their intent to merge. In the U.S., Delhaize America operates 1,288 stores under the Food Lion and Hannaford banners on the East Coast, while Ahold USA is the leading supermarket operator in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states with 788 supermarkets across four banners: Stop & Shop, Giant Food, Giant Food Stores and Martin’s.

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