Dollar Tree Completes Purchase of Family Dollar

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A new settlement has paved the way for the approval of Dollar Tree‘s $9.2 billion acquisition of Family Dollar Inc.

Attorneys General in 17 states (including Pennsylvania) agreed to approve the sale as long as Dollar Tree sells 330 Family Dollar branches to a competing company. The states’ lawsuit alleged that the acquisition would have led to a substantial loss in competition, according to a statement from Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

The expected buyer is Sycamore Partners, and the stores will be rebranded as Dollar Express. The nature of the stores as “deep discount” retailers will not change.

A total of 19 stores in Pennsylvania will change hands.

“These stores are located across Pennsylvania in both small towns and in our larger cities and suburbs,” said Kane. “We wanted to ensure there would be competition in these areas and that consumers were being offered the best prices and merchandise.”

An additional stipulation of the settlement mandates that Dollar Tree “report or notify” the Attorney General’s office of any acquisitions in the future, branch relocations or closings. The 17 Attorneys General conducted a national review of Dollar Tree’s initial acquisition proposal with help from the Federal Trade Commission, and then filed the original lawsuit in District Court in Washington, D.C.

Dollar Tree operates its stores under both the “Dollar Tree” and “Deals” names. “Deals” and “Family Dollar” often sell merchandise costing in excess of one dollar, but “Dollar Tree” stores usually sell all items for exactly one dollar. Dollar Tree operates over 5,450 stores across the United States, including 232 in Pennsylvania. Family Dollar has over 8,000 locations across the country and over 300 in Pennsylvania.

The other states involved in the settlement are Florida, Maine, Missouri, Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, Utah, Virginia (where Dollar Tree Inc. is headquartered), Massachusetts and West Virginia.