Thursday, August 6, 1998
Dillard's Inc. has extended for the fourth time its stock tender offer to acquire Mercantile Stores Co. Inc. as it allows the Federal Trade Commission more time to review the companies' merger agreement.
The tender offer was to have expired Wednesday. The period for stockholders to tender their shares in Fairfield-based Mercantile was extended to midnight Aug. 12.
So far, 19.5 million of Mercantile's 37 million shares have been tendered at $80 apiece.
The FTC in early June asked Dillard's and Mercantile for information about their merger agreement. Analysts surmised that Dillard's would be required to divest more than the 20 to 30 stores that it had planned to sell or swap as part of its $2.94 billion acquisition of Mercantile.
So far, Little Rock, Ark.-based Dillard's has done that. Monday, it said it agreed to sell 26 stores to Proffitt's Inc. and May Department Stores Co. Dillard's already said it would swap seven Mercantile stores for nine Belk stores.
