Companies expect final FTC clearance soon

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Delhaize Group and Ahold said Tuesday that they expect to complete their merger by the end of the month, pending final approval of the deal by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

It has been a little over a year since the two European retailers, which each generate a majority of their sales in the United States, announced their intention of merging. The $29 billion merger deal was announced on June 24, 2015, and was approved by the shareholders of both companies in March of this year. The Belgian Competition Authority also gave the deal its conditional approval in March, leaving FTC approval as the final regulatory hurdle before the merger can proceed.

Ahold on Tuesday also provided additional details on its €1 billion capital repayment and reverse stock split, which had been announced last year in conjunction with the merger deal.

The merger of Ahold and Delhaize will create an international retailer with more than 6,500 stores.

Ahold finished its most recent fiscal year with 788 supermarkets in the United States, operating under the Stop & Shop, Giant, Giant Super Food Stores, Giant Food Stores and Martins Food Markets banners. The company also operates the online grocer Peapod.

Delhaize had 1,288 U.S. supermarkets at the end of its fiscal year. They operate under the Hannaford and Food Lion banners.