Family Dollar rejects Dollar General bid again

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Family Dollar (FDO) is rejecting Dollar General's (DG) latest acquisition offer, and Dollar Tree says it will now divest as many stores as needed to get antitrust clearance for its deal to buy Family Dollar.

Family Dollar rejected an earlier offer of nearly $9 billion from Dollar General, with the Goodlettsville, Tennessee, discounter then boosting its bid to $9.1 billion. Family Dollar said Friday that it still has antitrust concerns.

Family Dollar Stores Inc. accepted an $8.5 billion deal with Dollar Tree Inc. in July. The two companies said Friday that they anticipate the transaction closing as early as the end of November.

Dollar Tree's willingness to shed more stores comes three days after Dollar General Corp. said it would divest up to 1,500 stores to get a deal done.