BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN
Associated Press
Dollar Tree is selling Family Dollar to a pair of private equity firms for $1 billion after a decade of trying to make its acquisition of the bargain chain fit.
Dollar Tree Inc. acquired Family Dollar for more than $8 billion in 2015 after a bidding war with rival Dollar General.
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said that after acquiring the rival chain, Dollar Tree struggled with supply chain issues, poor store locations and other operational difficulties.
“Basically, Dollar Tree bit off far more than it could chew,” he said.
Last year Dollar Tree announced that it planned to close hundreds of Family Dollar stores.
Dollar Tree had been scouting options for Family Dollar for a while and said Wednesday that the sale to Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management will allow it to focus on its core business.
“This is a major milestone in our multi-year transformation journey to help us fully achieve our potential,” said Mike Creedon, who was made permanent chief executive officer of Dollar Tree late last year.
Bargain chains like Dollar Tree, which have raised some of their prices in recent years, are finding that they have little room to maneuver. Americans have tightened their spending as consumer confidence in the economy slides.
Family Dollar, which moved its headquarters from North Carolina to Chesapeake, Virginia, after the sale to Dollar Tree, will maintain its headquarters in Virginia.
“This transaction presented a unique opportunity to play a key role in reinvigorating an iconic business,” Jonathan Duskin, CEO and Partner of Macellum, said.
Saunders said Brigade and Macellum with have several issues to fix at Family Dollar, including pricing that isn’t as sharp as many of its rivals and a customer base that isn’t as loyal.
The deal is expected to close later in the second quarter.