ZAANDAM, NETHERLANDS - In the latest for the highly-anticipated merger between Ahold and Delhaize Group, the FTC has charged the two retailers to divest 86 U.S. stores before they can proceed.

"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, in a press release. "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."

Already with a list of buyers, the breakdown of stores and purchasers of those stores are: 

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

FTC clearance is the remaining regulatory approval for the $28 billion merger, which would combine the two chains for an entity consisting of more than 6,500 stores and over 375,000 associates internationally.

“The combination of Ahold and Delhaize Group is a unique opportunity to deliver even more for customers, associates, and local communities,” said Ahold CEO Dick Boer. “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. We deeply appreciate the long-time support of our customers and associates in these locations and are confident that the new owners will continue to serve local communities well.”

While each purchase agreement must go to well established-supermarket retailers, and are subject to FTC approval and clearance, both retailers reported that they still expect to close the deal by the end of this month.

The stock for both Delhaize and Ahold were up by more than 1% this morning upon the release of the announcement. AndNowUKnow will continue to follow the events of this and other mergers/acquisitions relevant to the industry.

Ahold Delhaize