Dollar General Again Extends Tender Offer For Family Dollar

(RTTNews) - Dollar General Corp. (DG) on Friday extended its tender offer to buy rival Family Dollar Stores Inc. (FDO) for $80 per share, the second time the discount retailer has extended its offer after it was under-subscribed.

Dollar General has extended its tender offer to December 31, from its original expiry on October 31. About 4.1 million shares, or around 4 percent of Family Dollar's total outstanding shares, had been validly tendered into and not withdrawn as of October 30, Dollar General said in a statement. Family Dollar has more than 114 million shares outstanding.

Dollar General also said it intends to file a proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the Family Dollar's special shareholders meeting scheduled on December 11 to vote on the merger with Dollar Tree Inc. (DLTR).

Family Dollar has been in the midst of a takeover struggle between Dollar Tree Stores and Dollar General, whose offer it has repeatedly spurned.

In late July, Dollar Stores agreed to be bought by Dollar Tree for $74.50 per share in a cash, with the stock deal valued at $9.2 billion. However, on August 18, Dollar General made a superior all-cash proposal of $78.50 per share or $9.7 billion to thwart the Dollar Tree bid.

Family Dollar rejected Dollar General's offer on the basis of antitrust regulatory considerations. Later, Dollar General sweetened its offer by $1.50 to $80.00 per share, and also raised the number of stores it was willing to divest if ordered by the Federal Trade Commission or FTC. Nevertheless, Family Dollar remains firm in its agreement to be acquired by Dollar Tree.

DG is currently trading at $62.64, up $0.19 or 0.30%, on the NYSE.

FDO is currently trading at $78.00, up $0.18 or 0.23%,, on the NYSE.