Modified order allows Bi-Lo to hold on to more Fla. locations
Modified order allows Bi-Lo to hold on to more Fla. locations
The Federal Trade Commission approved a modified final order settling charges that grocery store operator Bi-Lo Holdings LLC’s $265 million acquisition of 154 stores from Delhaize America would harm competition in markets in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Under the new order, Bi-Lo will retain ownership of three Sweetbay stores in Florida for which it could not find a buyer.
Under the proposed settlement reached in 2014, the FTC required the merged Bi-Lo/Delhaize to sell 12 of the Delhaize stores to buyers identified in the proposed order. One of the buyers, Rowe’s IGA, subsequently withdrew its commitment to purchase four Sweetbay stores located in Arcadia, Dunnellon, Lake Placid and Wauchula, FL, requiring Bi-Lo to continue and expand its efforts to identify an alternative buyer or buyers for those stores.
Since Bi-Lo was unable to find buyers for three of those stores, the FTC has issued its modified final order that no longer requires Bi-Lo/Delhaize to divest the four Sweetbay stores to Rowe’s IGA. It also requires Bi-Lo/Delhaize to divest the store in Wauchula to Sunripe Market within 30 days of the modified order becoming final.