States OK grocer deal

Six U.S. states including Massachusetts allowed European grocers Royal Ahold NV and Delhaize Group to proceed with their $28 billion tie-up in exchange for court-ordered concessions.

The states filed a lawsuit and a settlement agreement yesterday, just days after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission cleared the deal between the two companies, whose stores include Quincy-based Stop & Shop, Maine's Hannaford, Giant, Martin's and Food Lion. As part of the federal approval, the grocers agreed in an out-of-court deal with the FTC to sell 81 stores, including eight in Massachusetts. The sales were announced July 14.

“The sale in the U.S. happened under a lot of pressure to sell, because in the end you want to close the deal,” Ahold Delhaize CEO Dick Boer said at the Amsterdam stock exchange yesterday. “Which means, we're happy with the number of stores sold, but that the proceeds eventually are likely to be less. It's part of the process we're in.”

In the suit filed yesterday in Washington, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania argued that the tie-up would adversely affect competition and harm the public interest. In a joint filing that accompanied the suit, the retailers and the states asked the court to sign off on the terms of last week's store-sale agreement.

“Stop & Shop and Hannaford supermarkets are located in numerous Massachusetts communities,” Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement. “By requiring divestitures in cities and towns where the merger would significantly reduce competition, this settlement maintains a marketplace with incentives for stores to offer the best prices, service, and merchandise to consumers.”

The FTC granted its approval of the tie-up on July 22, contingent on the sale agreement. The companies announced the completed deal the next day.