Dive Brief:
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The Federal Trade Commission would likely require Dollar General to divest itself of some 4,000 stores or more, which is significantly more than the 1,500 it said it would willingly lose in its $9.1 billion bid to take over rival Family Dollar, according to reporting by the New York Post.
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Dollar Tree, which has an earlier offer on the table of $8.5 billion, has said publicly that it would divest itself of any number of stores that would satisfy any anti-trust concerns from the FTC. Dollar General has not been so open-ended about divestiture.
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Family Dollar has consistently rejected Dollar General’s overtures, even though its purchase offers have been higher. Family Dollar said antitrust concerns could derail any deal and that could harm the company long term.
Dive Insight:
Both offers from Family Dollar’s rivals expire on the last day of the year, so time is now becoming of the essence. While Dollar General has called into question Family Dollar’s board’s refusals of its offers and the motivations of its CEO, this report shows that Family Dollar’s antirust concerns are indeed quite well founded.