Analyst: Bi-Lo/Food Lion Merger Could Test FTC

JON SPRINGER

NEW YORK — A combined Bi-Lo and Food Lion would exceed 35% market share in nine markets, and create a company with No. 1 market share in 14 of the 17 markets where they both do business, according to an analysis from BMO Capital Markets here.

“The overlap is substantial in our view,” the analyst, Karen Short, said in a research report released yesterday, “so all eyes will be on the [Federal Trade Commission] to gauge the agency’s current view on market-share dominance.”

Food Lion, through parent Delhaize Group, revealed a plan to acquire its smaller rival Bi-Lo out of bankruptcy court this week.

According to Short, the combined company would be strongest in the markets of Chattanooga, Tenn. (43.1%); Statesville-Mooresville, N.C. (40.8%); Myrtle Beach, S.C. (39.5%); Florence, S.C. (37.9%); and Columbia, S.C. (37.4%).

In many of the markets, the combination would boost market share above that of Wal-Mart Supercenters, Short added.

Read More of Today's Headlines