An Antitrust Economic Analysis of Stop & Shop's Proposed Acquisition of the Big V Shop Rite Supermarket Chain

In early 2002, the Royal Ahold subsidiary, Stop & Shop Supermarkets, offered to purchase the Big V supermarket chain, which was in bankruptcy court after three successive, unsuccessful leveraged buyouts over the past ten years. At a later date, Pathmark Supermarkets joined the offer to purchase. Big V was Wakefern Food Corporation's largest member. The acquisition was a horizontal merger in at least three local markets, Newburgh NJ, Poughkeepsie NY, and Trenton NJ. This research was conducted for the Wakefern Food Corporation who provided much of the underlying data and information. We presented this report to the Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission in March 2002 and to the New Jersey and New York Attorney Generals, Antitrust Section in April 2002. Thereafter, the Federal Trade Commission issued a second request in its merger review, and the bankruptcy judge ruled against the Stop & Shop/Pathmark offer. Big V subsequently was purchased by Wakefern and remains in the Shop Rite supermarket cooperative system