The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. (A&P)(NYSE:GAP)
announced today that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accepted a
proposed consent agreement relating to A&P’s
acquisition of Pathmark Stores Inc. (Carteret, NJ). In addition,
the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act waiting period has expired, thereby permitting
the parties to close the transaction. A&P expects to complete the
acquisition, which includes 140 Pathmark stores in New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and Delaware, on or about December 3, 2007.
The terms of the consent agreement require A&P to divest six stores
located in the state of New York within a short period following
completion of the acquisition. A&P has entered into definitive
agreements to sell all of the stores required to be divested. Those
sales have been approved by the FTC, and A&P expects to complete the
required divestitures within the prescribed time frame contained in the
consent order.
A&P said the following six stores are being sold under the consent
agreement: four Waldbaum’s stores, at 3251
Richmond Avenue South, 778 Manor Road, 4343 Amboy Road, and 1441
Richmond Avenue, and the Pathmark store at 2660 Hylan Boulevard, all on
Staten Island, N.Y., to King Kullen Grocery Co.; and the Waldbaum’s
store at 999 Montauk Highway, Shirley, N.Y., to Stop & Shop Supermarket
Cos. The Company has also entered into an agreement with the Attorney
General of the State of New York to divest the aforementioned stores to
those buyers. A&P said the stores being divested represent combined
annualized sales of approximately $149 million and EBITDA of
approximately $6 million.
The consent agreement will be subject to a 30-day public comment period,
after which the FTC may propose modifications before the consent order
is made final. However, A&P is not required to delay closing of the
acquisition for the comment period.
Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP is serving as antitrust counsel to A&P
and Latham & Watkins LLP is serving as counsel to Pathmark.
About The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea
Company, Inc.
Founded in 1859, A&P is one of the nation’s
first supermarket chains. The Company operates 315 stores
in 6 states and the District of Columbia under the following trade names: A&P, Waldbaum’s, The Food Emporium,
Super Foodmart, Super Fresh and Food Basics. About Pathmark Stores Inc. Pathmark is a regional supermarket chain currently operating 140
supermarkets in the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia metropolitan
areas. Additional information about Pathmark may be found
at its web site, www.pathmark.com.
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