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MATTHEWS, N.C. — Family Dollar Stores Inc. shareholders will vote December 11 on the company’s proposed sale to Dollar Tree Stores Inc.
Family Dollar Stores Inc. shareholders will vote December 11 on the company’s proposed sale to Dollar Tree Stores Inc.
Dollar Tree is offering shareholders cash and stock worth $74.50 per share. The companies would like to complete the deal by year’s end, creating the nation’s largest dollar store chain, with 13,000 stores across the United States and Canada. The deal would keep alive the Family Dollar name and permit Howard Levine, Family Dollar’s chairman and chief executive officer, to stay on the job for another two years.
Family Dollar’s board of directors has unanimously endorsed the offer over a richer, all-cash bid from Dollar General Corp. worth $80 a share. Family Dollar directors assert that Dollar General’s bid is unlikely to win approval from antitrust regulators because the resulting company and its nearly 20,000 stores would dominate the value channel.
Dollar General responded with a pledge to divest up to 1,500 stores to satisfy Federal Trade Commission antitrust concerns, but Family Dollar’s board was unmoved.
So Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tenn., took its case directly to Family Dollar shareholders. It recently extended its tender offer until December 31 to allow Family Dollar shareholders more time to opt for the higher bid.
As of October 30, when Dollar General extended the tender offer, just 4.1 million Family Dollar shares had been validly tendered and not withdrawn. Family Dollar has more than 114 million shares outstanding.
