More news from potential merger subjects Ahold and Delhaize—the two have revealed they are willing to sell a number of their Belgium-based locations in order to ease the approval process of regulatory agencies. It seems the retailers may believe that a combined Ahold/Delhaize company would be too much of a competitive force in the region if it did not sell the locations.
Announced in an emailed statement, Reuters reports that the two companies have confirmed that both will be putting up locations for sale. While the retailers have yet to confirm specific numbers, news sources in Belgium have revealed that Ahold will be selling eight of its Albert Heijn markets, while Delhaize has will sell five of its self-named locations.
Announced in June 2015, the duo’s impending $28 billion merger will create a collective of more than 6,500 stores, nearly 2,300 of which are in 14 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, says both company’s respective websites.
In just the country of Belgium, Delhaize operates around 880 stores and around Ahold operates 50 Albert Heijn stores.
Annual sales for the combined company would be equivalent to $60 billion (54 billion euros), according to Reuters.
DeliMarket News will provide you with more information as its announced.
