$5.8 BILLION DEAL: CANADA SAFEWAY BOUGHT BY SOBEYS

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Grocer Canada Safeway has been bought by Sobeys in a cash deal worth $5.8 billion. Savings of about $200 million yearly are expected with the combined store sales forecasted to be $24 billion annually.

Sobeys has about 1,300 owned and franchised Canadian locations under banners including Foodland, FreshCo, IGA and Sobeys.

Canada Safeway assets include:

• 213 Safeway stores, 60% of which are located in metro Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg,
• 199 in-store pharmacies,
• 62 gas stations,
• 10 liquor stores,
• 4 primary distribution centres and a related wholesale business, and
• 12 manufacturing facilities. 

Competition for food store retail in Canada has grown with the arrival of Target and Walmart's increased concentration on grocery products. Whole Foods will also be expanding its Canadian operations while competitor Loblaws, with over $30 billion in sales, is still the market leader.

[Press Release]