Dollar General Gets In On The Acquisition Action

By Matt Pillar, chief editor

In a column two weeks ago, my colleague Erin Harris pondered what Dollar General was thinking about Dollar Tree’s $8.5 billion acquisition of Family Dollar. Well, now we know. Dollar General has thrown its hat in the ring with a play for Family Dollar that amounts to a $9.7 billion offer, plus the few hundred million in consolation that Dollar General would owe Dollar Tree if it’s a successful acquisition wrecker.

Can we get ten billion? You with the yellow asterisk in your logo?

Dollar General hopes not. In fact, its chairman and chief executive Richard Dreiling seemed to take Family Dollar’s acquisition personally. The New York Times reported that in a letter sent to Family Dollar on August 18, Dollar General said it was “surprised and disappointed” last month when it learned of the deal with Dollar Tree. And Dreiling said he would have been willing to postpone his retirement had he known Family Dollar wanted to make a deal, a move he made anyway now that he’s seeking his own.

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