UNITED STATES OF AMERICA In the Matter of File No. 991 0308 AGREEMENT CONTAINING CONSENT ORDERS The Federal Trade Commission ("Commission"), having initiated an investigation of the proposed merger between Delhaize America, Inc. ("Delhaize America"), of which Etablissements Delhaize Freres et Cie "Le Lion" S.A.("Delhaize") is the majority owner, and Hannaford Bros. Co. ("Hannaford"), and it now appearing that Delhaize, Delhaize America and Hannaford, hereinafter sometimes referred to as "Proposed Respondents," are willing to enter into this Agreement Containing Consent Orders ("Consent Agreement") to divest certain assets and providing for other relief: IT IS HEREBY AGREED by and between Proposed Respondents, by their duly authorized officers and attorneys, and counsel for the Commission that: 1. Proposed Respondent Delhaize is a corporation organized, existing and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of Belgium, with its office and principal place of business located at rue Osseghem, 1080 Brussels, Belgium. 2. Proposed Respondent Delhaize America, the majority owner of which is Delhaize, is a corporation organized, existing, and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of North Carolina, with its office and principal place of business located at 2110 Executive Drive, Salisbury, North Carolina 28145. 3. Proposed Respondent Hannaford is a corporation organized, existing and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Maine, with its principal place of business located in Portland, Maine. 4. Proposed Respondents admit all the jurisdictional facts set forth in the draft of Complaint here attached. 5. Proposed Respondents waive: 6. Proposed Respondents shall submit an initial report within ten (10) days of the date that they execute this Consent Agreement and every thirty (30) days thereafter until the Decision and Order becomes final, pursuant to Section 2.33 of the Commission's Rules, 16 C.F.R. § 2.33, signed by the Proposed Respondents setting forth in detail the manner in which the Proposed Respondents have complied with, have prepared to comply with, and will comply with the Decision and Order. Such reports will not become part of the public record unless and until the Consent Agreement and Decision and Order are accepted by the Commission for public comment. 7. Because there may be interim competitive harm, and because divestiture or other relief resulting from a proceeding challenging the legality of the proposed merger might not be possible, or might be less than an effective remedy, the Commission may issue its Complaint and an Order to Maintain Assets in this matter at any time after it accepts the Consent Agreement for public comment. 8. This Consent Agreement shall not become part of the public record of the proceeding unless and until it is accepted by the Commission. If this Consent Agreement is accepted by the Commission, it, together with the Complaint contemplated hereby, will be placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days and information in respect thereto publicly released. The Commission thereafter may either withdraw its acceptance of this Consent Agreement and so notify Proposed Respondents, in which event it will take such action as it may consider appropriate, or issue or amend its Complaint (as the circumstances may require) and issue its Decision and Order, in disposition of the proceeding. 9. This Consent Agreement is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by Proposed Respondents that the law has been violated as alleged in the draft of Complaint here attached, or that the facts as alleged in the draft Complaint, other than jurisdictional facts, are true. 10. This Consent Agreement contemplates that, if it is accepted by the Commission, and if such acceptance is not subsequently withdrawn by the Commission pursuant to the provisions of § 2.34 of the Commission's Rules, 16 C.F.R. § 2.34, the Commission may, without further notice to the Proposed Respondents, (1) issue and serve its Complaint corresponding in form and substance with the draft of Complaint here attached, (2) issue and serve its Decision and Order and Order to Maintain Assets, and (3) make information public with respect thereto. When so entered, the Decision and Order and the Order to Maintain Assets shall have the same force and effect and may be altered, modified or set aside in the same manner and within the same time provided by statute for other orders. The Decision and Order and Order to Maintain Assets shall become final upon service. Delivery of the Complaint, Decision and Order and Order to Maintain Assets to Proposed Respondents by any means specified in Commission Rule 4.4(a), 16 C.F.R. § 4.4(a), shall constitute service. The Proposed Respondents waive any right they may have to any other manner of service. The Complaint may be used in construing the terms of the Decision and Order and Order to Maintain Assets, and no agreement, understanding, representation, or interpretation not contained in the Decision and Order, Order to Maintain Assets, or the Consent Agreement may be used to vary or contradict the terms of the Decision and Order or the Order to Maintain Assets. 11. By signing this Consent Agreement, Proposed Respondents represent and warrant that they can comply with the provisions of the attached Decision and Order and the Order to Maintain Assets, and that all parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and successors necessary to effectuate the full relief contemplated by this Consent Agreement are parties to the Consent Agreement and are bound thereby as if they had signed this Consent Agreement and were made parties to this proceeding and to the orders. 12. Proposed Respondents have read the proposed Complaint, Decision and Order and Order to Maintain Assets contemplated hereby. Proposed Respondents understand that once the Decision and Order and Order to Maintain Assets have been issued, they will be required to file one or more compliance reports showing that they have fully complied with the orders. Proposed Respondents agree to comply with the proposed Decision and Order and Order to Maintain Assets, as applicable, from the date they sign this Consent Agreement. Proposed Respondents understand that they may be liable for civil penalties in the amount provided by law for each violation of the Decision and Order and Order to Maintain Assets, as applicable, after they become final. Signed this day of , 2000 ETABLISSEMENTS DELHAIZE FRERES ET CIE "LE LION" S.A., a corporation By: ___________________________ ___________________________ DELHAIZE AMERICA, INC., a corporation By: ___________________________ ___________________________ HANNAFORD BROS. CO., a corporation By: ___________________________ ____________________________ FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION By: ___________________________ APPROVED: ___________________________ ___________________________ |