PORTLAND, Maine - Hannaford Supermarket's parent company Delhaize, based in Belgium, and Stop and Shop's owner, Ahold, based in the Netherlands, have announced that they intend to merge.
The companies say that the merger will create what they call a complementary base of more than 6,500 stores with 375,000 associates able to serve more than 50 million customers per week in the U.S. and Europe.
In addition to Hannaford, Delhaize owns the Food Lion grocery chain in the U.S. Royal Ahold owns the Stop&Shop and Giant food chains.
Pending shareholder approvals and regulatory clearance, the deal is expected to be completed in mid-2016.