Delhaize, Ahold to divest 86 U.S. stores

Delhaize Group, Brussels, and Koninklijke Ahold N.V., Zaandam, the Netherlands, announced that their U.S. subsidiaries 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 U.S. 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 said they continue to expect will occur before the end of July.

The divested store locations represent 4.1 percent of the Ahold and Delhaize Group companies’ total combined U.S. store count and 3.2 percent of combined U.S. 2015 net sales, the companies said.

"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 CEO, 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," Muller added.

According to Delhaize Group and Ahold N.V., the buyers of the 86 stores being divested are:

• New Albertson’s Inc. (part of Albertsons Companies, Boise, Idaho), which is purchasing one Giant Food store in Salisbury, Md.;
• Big Y Foods Inc., Springfield, Mass., which is purchasing eight Hannaford stores in eastern Massachusetts.
• Publix Supermarkets Inc., Lakeland, Fla., which is purchasing 10 Martin’s stores in Richmond, Va.
• Saubel’s Markets (based in Pennsylvania), which is purchasing one Food Lion store in York, Pa.
• Supervalu Inc., Minneapolis, which is purchasing 22 Food Lion stores in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
• Tops Markets LLC, Buffalo, N.Y., which is purchasing one Stop & Shop store in Massachusetts and three Stop & Shop stores and two Hannaford stores in New York.
• Weis Markets, Sunbury, Pa., which is 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, Delhaize Group and Ahold said.