Venable counsel Robert Davis was quoted in a January 13, 2015 Law360 article on the latest antitrust concerns over competing bids to buy Family Dollar. Antitrust concerns continue to threaten Dollar General's $9.1 billion takeover bid while Family Dollar has announced that an $8.5 billion merger with Dollar Tree was "a virtual certainty." Dollar Tree said it expects to come to agreement over lingering antirust issues with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as early as the end of the month. The company announced it would need to divest around 300 stores and already had potential buyers for them.
"The fact that Dollar Tree said it needs a vote now...Really, there's not much point of a vote if the FTC is going to have a big problem with the deal," said Davis referring to an upcoming vote by Family Dollar shareholders on Dollar General’s bid. "It does seem like the commission has gotten far enough along in its investigation of the Dollar Tree offer that it is able to provide the companies with clear indications of what its concerns are," Davis added. "If the companies are right that [Dollar Tree is] confident they found a buyer, then that's the biggest hurdle that needs to be resolved."