Maryland agrees to merger of Giant Food and Food Lion parent companies

CHIAKI KAWAJIRI / BALTIMORE SUN
B. Green & Co., a Baltimore-based food distributor, saw its sales rise almost 15 percent to $164.5 million after opening a new store. B. Green operates Food Depot and Green Valley stores.
Barbara Haddock Taylor / Baltimore Sun
ShopRite, which also does business as Kleins, Collins and Village, saw sales rise nearly 3 percent to $360 million.
Kenneth K. Lam / Baltimore Sun
Sales at Food Lion's 26 stores in the Baltimore region slid 1 percent to $265.6 million. Its parent agreed in July to sell 21 of its Maryland stores to Weis Markets, including six in the greater Baltimore market.
Barbara Haddock Taylor / Baltimore Sun
Sales rose a little over $1 million at the 19 Baltimore-area Shoppers stores. With $513 million in sales, Shoppers had just over 11 percent of the supermarket market share.
Algerina Perna / Baltimore Sun
While Giant enjoys a market share more than twice its nearest competitor, sales slid 1 percent to $1.41 billion at its 42 stores in the Baltimore region.
Kim Hairston / Baltimore Sun
With just four Baltimore-area stores, Wegmans generated $330 million in sales, up 4 percent from a year earlier. The Rochester, N.Y.-based chain will add a fifth store this year in Owings Mills.

By Lorraine Mirabella | lmirabella@baltsun.com

PUBLISHED: July 25, 2016 at 6:12 p.m. | UPDATED: June 23, 2019 at 4:17 a.m.

Maryland and five other states have reached a settlement with Giant Food parent company Koninklijke Ahold approving its proposed merger with Delhaize Group, the owner of Food Lion supermarkets, state Attorney General Brian E. Frosh said Monday.

The Federal Trade Commission and the state attorneys general required the parent companies to sell off 76 stores nationwide to satisfy antitrust regulations, including 26 in Maryland.

The companies announced the sales earlier this month, including the sale of 21 Food Lions in Maryland, including half a dozen in the Baltimore region, to Weis Markets and the sale of a handful of Food Lions around Hagerstown to Supervalu, which will run them as Shop N Save stores. In Salisbury, Albertson’s will acquire a Giant Food store and remake it as an Acme store.

“Entering into this settlement and allowing this merger to be completed with divestitures will ensure a continued and robust competition for the Maryland market,” Frosh said in a statement. “This settlement maintains a marketplace with incentives for stores to offer the best prices, service and merchandise to Maryland consumers.”

lorraine.mirabella@baltsun.com