Food Lion's Belgian parent wants to expand its foothold in the Southeast by buying stores and other assets worth $425 million from bankrupt rival grocer BI-LO.
Delhaize Group intends to integrate BI-LO's stores into its Food Lion chain. Food Lion has more than 1,300 stores in 11 states with 74,000 employees. Mauldin, S.C.-based BI-LO LLC is a privately held company that operates 214 supermarkets in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee and employs about 15,500 people. It filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in March.
In North Carolina, BI-LO stores are mostly in the western part of the state. There are none in the Triangle.
