US grocer Bi-Lo Holdings is to close 13 stores following the regulatory approval of the acquisition of three US chains from Belgium-based retailer Delhaize Group.

The US Federal Trade Commission has given the go-ahead to Bi-Lo to buy Delhaize’s Sweetbay, Harveys and Reid’s chains after agreements with the two retailers. Bi-Lo is to sell 12 of the stores and Delhaize said it would keep two of the outlets.

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However, Bi-Lo has since said it has made the “difficult but necessary decision” to close eight of the acquired Delhaize outlets and five existing Bi-Lo stores “due to close geographical proximity”.

Bi-Lo said: “Given the number of stores we are acquiring, we anticipated that we may be asked by the FTC to divest some stores to close the deal. In addition, with the close proximity of some of the Bi-Lo Holdings and Delhaize stores, we also knew that we would have to close a few stores as part of the acquisition,” Bi-Lo president and CEO Randall Onstead said.

Eight stores in Florida – three Sweetbay, two Harveys and three of Bi-Lo’s Winn-Dixie outlets – will close. Three Reid’s and one Bi-Lo in South Carolina will shut. A Winn-Dixie outlet in Georgia will also close. The stores will shut between March and July.

“We appreciate the many contributions our associates in these stores have made, and we will ensure they are treated respectfully and have the opportunity to pursue other open positions in nearby stores.”

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In May 2013, Bi-Lo originally announced its intent to acquire 155 operating Sweetbay, Harveys and Reid’s supermarket chains from Delhaize. In October, Bi-Lo said it would keep the Harveys banner but discard Sweetbay and Reid’s once the deal closes. Both sides now expect the transaction to be completed in May, with Bi-Lo operating 134 of Delhaize’s 155 stores.