Reports: Parents of two big New England supermarket chains could merge
The parent companies of Stop & Shop and Hannaford are reportedly in early talks to merge, according to Belgian news reports cited by Bloomberg.
Stop & Shop’s Netherlands-based parent, Royal Ahold NV, and Belgium-based Delhaize Group, which owns Hannaford, each have flags firmly planted in New England between the two chains.
Stop & Shop is headquartered in Quincy and was acquired by Ahold in 1996. Hannaford’s headquarters are in Scarborough, Maine, and the chain found its way under Delhaize’s ownership in 2000. Both companies have several locations in Massachusetts.
The reports say the discussions are preliminary, and that there haven’t yet been any talks about corporate structure (so it’s not at all clear how any merger would affect the two New England-centric chains). According to Bloomberg, there has been speculation that the two companies could merge going back as far as 2007.
Delhaize, the Hannaford parent, emerged as a possible buyer for Market Basket last summer when the Tewksbury-based chain was in the middle of a heated family ownership dispute that ultimately saw then-ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas and his allies buy out the company.
The region’s grocery ecosystem has seen other changes in recent years. West Bridgewater-based Shaw’s Supermarketswas acquired two years ago by Cerberus Capital Management, which also owns the Albertsons and Safeway grocery chains that are prominent in other parts of the country. It has since revitalized its Star Market brand across Greater Boston, transforming many of the urban Shaw’s stores into Star Markets.
Meanwhile, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods and southern California-based Trader Joe’s (which is owned by German company Aldi) have continued to grow in the region. And Wegmans, out of Rochester, New York, has opened three Massachusetts stores since 2011.
Read more about the talks at Bloomberg.
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