Federal Trade Commission Accepts Consent Agreement; Clears Way for A&P to Complete Pathmark Acquisition

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.