Ahold, Delhaize announce intention to merge

BRUSSELS, Belgium and ZAANDAM, The Netherlands — It's official. International food retailers Delhaize and Ahold have entered into an agreement to merge, creating a base of more than 6,500 stores.



The combined company, headquartered in the Netherlands, will have aggregated sales of more than 54 billion euros ($60.5 billion) and be named Ahold Delhaize. It will have more than 375,000 associates serving more than 50 million customers every week in the United States and Europe.

The transaction is expected to be completed mid-2016, following regulatory clearances, associated consultation procedures and shareholder approval.



Dick Boer, CEO of Royal Ahold, will become CEO of the combined company. Frans Muller, CEO of Delhaize Group, will become deputy CEO and chief integration officer.



Mats Jansson, chairman of Delhaize Group, will become chairman of Ahold Delhaize. Royal Ahold Chairman Jan Hommen and Delhaize Group Director Jacques de Vaucleroy will become vice chairmen of Ahold Delhaize.


Jeff Carr, currently CFO of Ahold, will be CFO. Pierre Bouchut, currently CFO of Delhaize, will become COO for Europe. The current COOs of Ahold and Delhaize in the United States, James McCann and Kevin Holt, will stay on as COOs of their respective businesses. 


“The proposed merger with Delhaize is an exciting opportunity to create an even stronger and more innovative retail leader for our customers, associates and shareholders worldwide. With extraordinary reach, diverse products and formats, and great people, we are bringing together two world-class organizations to deliver even more for the communities we serve. Our companies share common values, proud histories rooted in family entrepreneurship, and businesses that complement each other well. We look forward to working together to reach new levels of service and success.”



Added Muller, "We believe that the proposed merger of Ahold and Delhaize will create significant value for all our stakeholders. Supported by our talented and committed associates, Ahold Delhaize aims to increase relevance in its local communities by improving the value proposition for its customers through assortment innovation and merchandising, a better shopping experience both in stores and online, investments in value, and new store growth. We look forward to working closely with the Ahold team to implement a smooth integration process and realize the targeted synergies.”



As part of the deal, Delhaize shareholders will receive 4.75 Ahold ordinary shares for each Delhaize ordinary share. Ahold will terminate its ongoing share buyback program; €1 billion will be returned to Ahold shareholders via a capital return and a reverse stock split prior to completion of the transaction.



According to the companies, the transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings in the first full year after completion, with anticipated run-rate synergies of €500 million per annum to be fully realized in the third year after completion. One-off costs of €350 million will be required to achieve synergies.

In the United States, the combined company would operate 2,063 stores with sales of roughly $36.9 billion. Barring any store closures, the combined U.S. operations of Ahold and Delhaize would net 825 pharmacy locations.

Ahold USA, which operates U.S. supermarket chains Stop & Shop and Giant, is currently the 14th largest retail pharmacy operation in the U.S. with $2.1 billion in pharmacy sales, according to DSN's Annual PoweRx report, which ranks the leading pharmacy operators in the country. Delhaize America, which operates the Hannaford and Food Lion stores in the eastern United States, ranks No. 31.



Prior to Wednesday’s announcement, Goos Kant, Ortec board member and retail industry expert, said in a statement that such a merger would be a “clear win/win.” Ortec is a provider of advanced planning and optimization solutions and services.



“Ahold and Delhaize are highly complimentary and a merger would likely generate benefits for both companies,” Kant stated. "Our team conducted a thorough analysis of data from ING, Rabobank and other public sources indicating a merger would be a clear win/win.”

According to Ortec’s analysis, in states where Ahold operates, a person lives at an average distance of 15 miles from one of the company’s stores. On the whole, in all states where Delhaize operates, a person lives at an average distance of 32 miles from a Delhaize establishment. With the merger, a person living in one of these states would live at an average distance of 15 miles from an Ahold or Delhaize store. Together, the companies would cover 109 million people. In other words, more than one-third of the entire U.S.  population would live in states where on average, an Ahold-Delhaize store is located within 15 miles, according to Ortec.



Aside from operating traditional stores, Ahold owns the online grocer Peapod. Peapod works with several Ahold brands in the United States and, following the merger with Delhaize, Peapod would have access to the Delhaize network and potentially 1,300 new pick-up points that have the benefit of being located in less populated areas — a great advantage for an online grocer, Ortec noted.